Chapter 6 Torric
Torric
Move.
Move.
Fuck, move.
Get to her. Get to her now.
Flames break free—wild and pissed off. Fire cracks across the ground as I force my body faster than physics should allow. The underbrush ignites. I don’t care. I don’t slow down.
Kieran’s down.
Kaia’s exposed.
The creature’s turning toward her.
Her shadows are losing control—wild, feral, trying to protect her but she’s not commanding them. She’s just standing there, wings flared, darkness pouring from her hands like she doesn’t know how to stop it.
If she dies, the world fucking ends.
The creature charges.
I’m not close enough.
Not fast enough.
Fuck.
It lashes out as I close the distance—bone spike swinging toward my ribs.
I duck. Fire bursts from my palm, deflecting the blow just enough that it grazes instead of impales.
Pain lances across my side.
I don’t stop.
“Get the fuck out of my way,” I snarl.
It doesn’t listen.
And the world detonates.
The scream hits like a physical blow.
Ear-splitting. Ancient. Furious.
I stumble, hands flying to my ears as the sound tears through my skull. Heat rolls across the clearing—hotter than my fire, hotter than anything I’ve ever felt.
I look up.
Revna.
Phoenix form. Massive wings spread wide, feathers made of flame blazing so bright I have to squint. Talons big enough to crush bone.
She dive-bombs from above.
The creature doesn’t have time to react.
She slams into it with the force of a collapsing mountain. Talons dig into its back, piercing through matted fur and corrupted flesh. It screams—high, wrong, inhuman.
Revna drags it backward, wings beating once, twice, lifting it off the ground.
Then she throws it.
The creature’s body arcs through the air and crashes into the river with a spray of dark water.
But its momentum catches Kaia on the way.
The impact jerks her sideways. She doesn’t have time to brace. Her wings fold as she’s knocked off balance, stumbling—
And then she’s in the water.
“No.”
The word rips from my throat.
No no no NO.
I dive.
Zero hesitation.
The river slams into me like a wall. Cold punches the air from my lungs. My fire extinguishes instantly—every spark, every ember, gone.
I force myself forward. Muscles screaming. Current dragging at me like it wants to pull me under.
I see her ahead—hair streaming dark in the water, arms flailing, trying to surface but the current’s too strong.
She’s going under.
No.
I kick harder. Force my way through water that feels like molten lead, heavy and brutal and wrong.
The current shifts.
Slows around her.
Frost forms on the surface—delicate patterns spreading outward like someone’s redirecting the flow.
I don’t look. Don’t need to—Aspen’s right on the bank. I can feel the cold tug of his magic.
Twin bond or instinct or both—I know he’s with me.
I reach her. Grab her arm. Pull her against my chest.
Her head breaks the surface. She gasps—chokes—coughs water.
“I’ve got you,” I rasp. “I’ve got you.”
The current surges again, trying to rip her from my grip.
I hold tighter.
We’re being dragged downstream. Fast. Too fast.
I can’t stop us.
A tree groans ahead—chaos magic sparking wild along its bark.
Finn.
It tilts. Cracks. Then crashes across the river, slamming into the water with enough force to send spray into the air.
A barrier.
A place to stop.
“Finally,” I snarl, using it for leverage.
I angle us toward it, kicking with everything I have left.
We hit the log so hard I know my ribs are bruised. Pain explodes across my chest but I don’t let go.
Kaia’s weight sags against me. Her breathing is shallow. Rattling.
“Torric—”
Malrik’s voice cuts through the roar of water.
He’s already in the river, wading toward us. Shadows lash through the current, stabilizing the surface around us like he’s forcing the water to obey.
He grabs Kaia’s arms. “I’ve got her—Torric, let go—”
“Like fuck I’m letting go.”
His silver eyes flash. “Then push while I pull.”
I adjust anyway. Not because I want to—but because Malrik’s right.
We move together.
Malrik pulling from the front. Me pushing from behind, one arm locked around her waist, the other gripping the log for leverage.
Aspen’s frost spreads further, slowing the current.
Finn’s chaos magic holds the tree steady, trembling but solid.
Revna circles overhead, phoenix wings blazing, ready to strike again if the creature resurfaces.
Teamwork.
We drag her onto the bank.
Malrik helps me lay her down gently. Her chest rising with shallow breaths. She’s unconscious.
Because I didn’t get to her fast enough.
Aspen flicks a glance behind us. “Kieran’s breathing,” he says. “Unconscious, not gone.”
Mouse is shrieking somewhere behind us—high, furious, terrified.
Bob hulks beside her, shaking with rage, edges so sharp they cut the air.
I fall to my knees beside her, hands hovering over her face because I don’t know where to touch, where it’s safe, where I won’t hurt her.
Then shadows curl around her—dark, wrong, not hers.
They move differently. Heavier. Tainted at the edges.
Darian’s.
The air even smells wrong—metallic and cold.
They press close to her skin like they’re trying to warm her. Comfort her.
Bob surges forward, doubling in size, snarling as he blocks them.
But the shadows don’t fight back. Don’t lash out.
They just… reach for her. Like they’re begging.
I look back.
Darian’s still bound, kneeling in the mud fifty feet away. His hands are tied behind his back. But his face—
Raw. Desperate. Terrified.
His shadows tremble between us, caught between her and him, not knowing where to go.
“Get them off her,” I snarl.
Malrik’s hand lands on my shoulder. “Torric—”
“I said get them—”
“They’re not hurting her.” Malrik’s voice is quiet. Certain. “Look.”
The shadows settle against her ribs in a way that doesn’t seem natural. Warmth bleeds through where they touch.
A faint pulse thumps through them—like a heartbeat that isn’t hers.
Her breathing steadies. Deepens.
Color returns to her face.
I hate that he’s helping.
I hate that she needs it.
I hate that I’m grateful for it anyway.
My lungs finally unlock.
I slump forward, pressing my forehead to her shoulder.
“Never—fucking—do that again.”
My hands are shaking.
Fire flickers back to life along my knuckles—weak, guttering, but there.
Finn’s hand lands on my shoulder. Squeezes once.
Malrik’s shadows curl protectively around all of us.
Aspen doesn’t move. Just keeps watch.
And Kaia breathes.