74. Scotlind
SEVENTY-FOUR
SCOTLIND
Hours had passed, and I had no idea how either of them were continuing to fight. I could feel every power being wielded by the King. Despite not having his prisoners to steal from anymore, he was just as strong, still taking too much to be natural that my enhancement was repulsed by him.
But I could also feel Tezya. I could feel his flames. They were hotter than I had ever felt before. They were burning through everything, burning through whatever abilities the King threw at him. But they were also burning through him, through his very soul, dwindling his reserves as he began to take from an endless well.
“We need to get closer.” I turned toward Brock and Sie. “Please. He’s going to die.”
“He told us to stay hidden until he needs us,” Sie said while Brock stayed silent.
“But he does need us. He needs us now!”
“I left a connection open between us. Tezya will let me know if he wants backup, but he hasn’t reached out, Scottie. He’s fine— ”
“Fine?” I spat. “He’s dying, Sie. If you know Tezya at all, you’d know he won’t ever tell you.”
His dark eyes met mine before he turned back to stare at the mountain range. He ran his fingers through his long locks and continued to pace. I needed his compulsion off. I needed to be closer to Tezya. He didn’t stop me from using my abilities, which was why I was subconsciously hearing everything through Tezya’s heightened senses, but he compelled me not to leave the mountain I was on. The only problem was, we were five mountains away from Mount Pylemo. I couldn’t do anything else from this distance but listen to Tezya struggle, and it was going to kill me along with him.
I turned to Brock instead. “Brock, please. Tezya is going to die if I don’t do something. He’s wearing the ring, and he’s going through his reserves too fast. He won’t last long enough for the King’s powers to wear off.”
The plan was for Tezya to distract the King until he was fighting without any stolen powers. We didn’t delude ourselves into thinking that just because we freed everyone in the dungeons, he’d stop stealing abilities. We knew he most likely found other powerful Advenians by now. But we prayed if we timed it right, they could start their fight on the cusp of his twenty-four period. It was why he waited so long to find him, but it wasn’t going to work. He wasn’t going to last another hour at best with how much power he was exuding. And deep down, I knew the prophecy wouldn’t let that be an option. Standing on the Temples, I could feel it, feel the Goddesses. Whatever the riddle meant was going to come true one way or another.
Tears were streaming down my face and blurring my vision. “You’re going to have to release me from this compulsion sooner or later. This isn’t about me being selfish. We’re going to lose our only chance at killing the King. Tezya’s going to die, which means I’ll be the only person left alive to take him on, and that’s only if I can manage to get the ring. And besides that, who’s to say Tezya’s fire won’t die with him? And if by some miracle it doesn’t and I can still access it, I don’t even know how to harness it. I’ve never trained with his fire before. If you let Tezya die right now, that’s it, we lose. But if you let me go, I can help. I can save Tezya. I know I can. He can’t do this alone despite what he thinks.” No one said anything, the only sounds were distant and coming from Tezya and the King… “Please, just trust me.”
Sie ran his fingers through his hair again, but at my words he stopped pacing and turned to face me. “Trust you? The last time you said that you ran off and let yourself get caught.”
“I did that to save you, Sie, and we all got out eventually.”
He ignored me and went back to pacing.
I screamed as Tezya’s agony shot through me. Pain unlike anything I’d ever felt was coursing through our bond.
“He’s killing him.” I fell to the ground, my knees slamming against the bare rock. “He’s going to die.” I looked up and saw a vision of blurry brown and gold and knew I was staring at Brock, but I couldn’t make out his expression through my sobs. I couldn’t focus on anything.
“Dovelyn won’t forgive you,” I begged and pleaded with him. “And I won’t either. I won’t forgive you—either of you. I won’t ever forgive you for this.”
Strong arms grabbed my forearms and pulled me up. Then rough fingers scraped against the underside of my eyes, wiping my tears away until I stared into onyx ones—Sie. “What’s your plan then?”
Sie teleported me halfway down the slope of Mount Pylemo, then teleported Brock and himself to the top where Tezya and the King were fighting by the ruins .
He refused to get me any closer, claiming that if Tezya saw me, he’d lose his focus, which I couldn’t deny. If Tezya knew what I planned on doing, he wouldn’t allow it. He’d find a way to make me stop, but I was close enough now that I could manage it from here. With my heightened sense of sight from him, I could see everything perfectly, and as long as he didn’t look down, he shouldn’t notice me, and even if he did, I’d be too far away from him that he wouldn’t be able to stop me.
Brock was instantly putting everything he had into healing the injuries Tezya had. He was covered in blood. His cut across his chest had reopened, soaking through his shirt as he was slowly bleeding out. There was another cut across his face and a dagger embedded into his calf.
Brock’s healing powers couldn’t keep up. The King kept attacking, kept coming after Tezya without a break for even a second to breathe.
My enhancement felt Brock use his other ability as he tried to take away the King’s senses, but he had an air shield surrounding himself.
Nothing was breaking through it—the only ability that could penetrate the kind of power he was using was Tezya’s fire through the ring. It was different than any elemental ability I’d felt before. It could burn through anything, so I focused on it until it was all I became, and I didn’t stop until I felt like I was burning alive too.
I put everything I had into his fire, enhancing it with my own reserves. At some point, my hands started shaking. Then my legs gave out, and I could only manage to slowly crawl up the slope. Then came the sweats. I was drenched, making navigating upwards nearly impossible. There was nothing to hold onto, no boulders or rocks embedded into the mountain. It was all small pebbles and loose stones that sent me tumbling anytime I tried using them as leverage.
I was approaching the bottom of my reserves. I could feel it. I started crawling again, laying flat on my stomach and slowly inching higher using my elbows and toes for support.
I glanced up at the ruins. The King was using ground magic, sending hundreds of vines toward Tezya, trapping him to one spot. Tezya was burning through them instantly, one after another, after another, but it wasn’t enough. He was stuck in place because the moment it all turned to ash, the King was making more.
Fire was everywhere—the stone ruins were starting to collapse, and the smoke was so heavy I could barely see through it. My own lungs were burning from the inhalation, and I was pretty sure it was so thick I wouldn’t be able to speak if I tried.
I squinted, trying to get a better look. The King had over a dozen daggers strapped across his chest, and one by one, he was sending them flying toward him. Tezya burned through the metal each time, but whenever he did, more vines wrapped around him. They were at his throat now.
Another dagger came flying at Tezya. I could feel his fire start through my enhancement, but then he swore, and I felt the pain for myself.
The King sent electricity toward him at the same time, and I watched in complete horror as it debilitated him—as it debilitated me too, and all I could do was watch as the blade went straight for his heart.
The smoke was too thick and too high. It was blocking my view, but Tezya’s pain had my adrenaline soaring. It was going to kill him—
I forced my legs to move, forced myself to stand on shaking limbs, finding the strength to run the rest of the way up the slope. I was closer now, somehow managing to make it to the top. I expected to see Tezya laying on the ground. I imagined our bond breaking abruptly, but he was still being held up by the King’s vines. Alive, he was —
I screamed, but it died on my lips because all I saw was black and red.
Black hair in a pool of blood.
Sie was on the ground before Tezya with the dagger embedded inside of him.