Chapter 11 #3
A large shape moved to my left, and without hesitation, I unleashed a torrent of flames in its direction.
The daka that had been approaching let out a roar, rearing up on its hind legs and unseating its rider.
My eyes widened as they fell upon a familiar olive-skinned woman with short, dark braids and pale yellow eyes.
She growled in frustration and pushed herself to her feet.
She froze, her eyes widening slightly as she stared toward me.
Capitalizing on her surprise, I unleashed fiery whips from both palms, engulfing Lana and her beast in a wall of flame.
Lana scowled at me, sword in hand, screaming words lost to the roar of the wind and flames surrounding them.
I plunged through the inferno towards her, and she ran to meet me, hand outstretched, as I landed within the fiery circle.
A blinding flash of light shot towards me, and I dove out of its path, rolling aside.
Her beast roared, stomping its paws in agitation, yet it remained rooted to the spot, its frantic eyes darting between its rider and me.
Was it… worried? I'd never witnessed a daka display emotion before.
Another flash of light streaked towards me, and I deflected it with a gust of wind.
Vines shot up from the ground in front of Lana, wrapping around her wrists, and I yanked her towards the ground with a violent tug.
She managed to grab onto them, her palms once again glowing with magic, and tore through them, freeing herself.
She stumbled forward and used that momentum to charge at me, her sword raised high above her head as she slashed down towards my torso.
Another vine was already wrapping around her middle, and I lunged backward as I pulled her in the opposite direction. Her blade grazed in a slanting arch across my stomach and would have done significant damage if I hadn’t moved.
She stumbled backward and snarled before I lunged toward her, tackling her to the ground. Her daka roared, and its monstrous maw chomped at the air above my head. Its tail slammed around us as we wrestled on the ground.
“Rasha, no,” Lana spat, and her hand slammed into the side of my face with more force than I thought was possible. I was flung sideways, rolling a few feet to our left.
Getting to my feet, I watched as Lana stood, trying to gain her footing. I shadowed in front of her, my fist connecting with the side of her jaw.
A smirk played on my lips, but it vanished as a dagger plunged into my right ribcage. I gasped as Lana grinned at me.
“Hello, prince.”
A snarl left me as I cast more vines to wrap around her arms and her legs, but she seared through them with her magic, burning them before they could get a proper hold of her.
I pivoted, spinning around her and slamming my elbow into the middle of her back.
She stumbled forward, turning and throwing a punch.
I shadowed, sending a gust of wind toward her, lifting her and launching her into the encircling flames.
Lana's sharp cry of pain ripped through the air. Suddenly, her beast was on top of me, its claw raking across my thigh, sending me tumbling across the ground.
“That wasn’t nice,” I heard Lana growl. Her arm was burned, the flesh oozing and red.
Shadows gathered, and I appeared behind her, but Lana was already pivoting. Her sword sliced across my shoulder as she spun away, putting distance between us again as she sprinted for her beast.
Clenching my teeth through the pain, I tried to stand, but I felt way weaker than I should have.
I threw my dagger toward her, hitting her in the back of the knee, and Lana crashed to the ground.
I was already running toward her and dove on top of her, pinning her to the ground, one eye on her beast.
Lana screamed and thrashed under my weight, her olive skin starting to glow.
“Why are you here, Lana?” I barked, gritting my teeth against the pain of her magic heating against my skin. She grew increasingly brighter as if she were a bomb about to erupt, and my magic coiled around me, trying to shield me but I wouldn’t be able to hold on to her much longer.
She was strong. Really fucking strong. Her magic was something so pure that it almost rivaled mine, my brothers even. My magic started to recoil, but I could see Lana’s eyes rolling, her lids struggling to stay open. Her magic didn’t falter though, and fuck, she was losing control of her magic.
A foot struck my face, and something dark flung me backward.
Magic met mine, and my eyes widened as I rolled across the damp ground, trying to orient myself.
My nails dug into the earth, scratching as I halted my momentum, my gaze snapping towards Lana.
A dark, shapely figure loomed over her. A second later, Lana exploded in a blinding flash of light.
I squinted against the intense glare, needing to shield the camp and my people.
I pushed myself up and poured all my strength into a shield, throwing it around us.
The force of her magic sent me stumbling back, and it burned through my shield as if it were nothing.
I stepped back, throwing up another, then another, until one finally held, absorbing her magic and launching it skyward.
I only prayed to the Fates that Aria wasn't up there.
The searing light disappeared, and I blinked through my now spotty vision to find Zara standing over Lana, fuming.
Something in my gut twisted at seeing her and distantly I felt a pull toward her.
Frowning, I watched the flames billow behind her as she stood like a warrior over her sister.
She looked so different from that girl I first met. Stronger.
Lana lay unconscious at her feet, and her daka lay motionless behind her, though I saw its chest rise and fall as if it had been knocked unconscious.
“Are you an idiot? She could have killed you!” Zara spat. Her icy blue eyes like daggers as they bore into mine.
“Then I would have died,” I growled, and Zara flinched backward as if my words affected her, but she seemed to shake it off a moment later and scowled at me.
“Then you are a bigger fool than I thought.”
My hand found the dagger at my hip, and I tensed, ready for an attack. My eyes swept over her once more, a hot wave of anger surging through me at her manipulation. Whatever had existed between us had clearly been a lie. Yet, she'd had two chances to kill me and hadn't.
Zara laughed humorlessly. “I only came for my sister.”
“Then why save me?”
Because she did, that hadn’t been my shield that stuck– it was hers.
Zara didn’t speak, didn’t move as she glared at me.
Snarling, I lunged. But I was suddenly yanked back.
Something was wrapped around my ankles, stopping me cold, and the pull sent me hurtling toward the ground, my face slamming into the dirt.
“What the fuck?” Hissing, I pushed myself onto my knees, head whipping in her direction. Zara stood smugly, and I looked down to find vines coiled tightly around my ankles, tethering me to the earth.
“You are injured and in no condition to fight me, Jaxon.”
Injured? This was nothing.
I tore from the vines and shot flames in her direction, meaning to give me time to get to my feet, but the flames I conjured were only wisps, and I growled as she shot a torrent of shadow toward me.
Twisting out of their path, I spun right into a floating sphere of fucking water.
I thrashed inside it, my flames still not rising to the surface.
I gasped, water filling my lungs as I fought against the onslaught of her magic.
Zara released me, and I collapsed to the ground, expelling water from my lungs as I gasped and choked for air.
A strange heaviness settled in my bones.
What in the fates was wrong with me? I shouldn't be this weak.
We take preemptive antitoxins for the daka poison now.
It shouldn't be affecting me, not like this.
“I’m not the useless human girl you knew, Jaxon.” Zara’s voice was edged with something lethal, and I met her gaze again. “I know how to fight. And I know how to use my magic.”
Something slammed into me from behind, knocking me forward. I didn’t have time to catch myself, barely had time to register the impact before I hit the ground, shadows snapping around me, pinning me in place.
I thrashed and watched as Zara scowled at me, stepping over Lana and coming to stand over me.
“Her blades are laced with nightshade and snake venom. You should remember that for next time.” My eyes widened as dark mist curled around not only her but also Lana, and the unconscious daka.
Zara threw something before she disappeared, and I stopped thrashing, watching as a vial of dark purple liquid rolled toward me, stopping a few feet away.