Chapter Eighteen #2
Mereck was attacking Edmund, but Edmund had no magic and no way to defend himself other than with his sword. Edmund was able to dodge Mereck’s magic once, but he might not be so lucky the second time. Dagan started toward his father. Sidonie tried to grab his arm but missed.
“No, Dagan. Wait!” she exclaimed. “It’s about to close!”
But he was too far away to hear her now. The two sides of the fire were reaching toward each other. Dagan ran through the divide just before it closed, putting a wall of flames between him and her. She could no longer see her mate or reach him.
On the balcony, Bree couldn’t believe her eyes.
The fire had reached the outer wall of the grounds and the stone started to crumble, falling to the dirt below as the flames climbed.
The barracks and stables were just north of that wall.
If something didn’t happen soon, the wildfire would destroy them.
Then there would be nothing between it and the castle walls.
Sarita saw the blue flames reaching the top of the wall and screamed.
Bree heard footsteps behind her and saw Dahlia running onto the balcony, followed by Rhea and Gabrielle.
Bree had forgotten for a moment that Reeve was down there too.
Gabby looked terrified and Rhea looked ready to be sick as well.
“It will be alright,” Bree said. “They will be alright.”
Even though she convinced herself she was saying it to make the others feel better, she really needed to hear the words just as much.
Not only were the men that they loved down there but so were animals and crops.
If the wildfire took the castle, the village on the other side would fall victim shortly after.
The heart of her entire kingdom would be destroyed.
In the firestorm, Dagan spun around but he couldn’t see his father. The wind had created so many different patches of blue fire that it was a maze inside. He ran to the left, but flames blocked his path, so he turned around and ran in the opposite direction.
Sidonie was losing control of her magic.
From the moment Dagan disappeared behind the flames, the intense feeling of dread took over her body.
Her breaths became heaves of smoke-filled air that burned her throat and stung her eyes.
She forced herself to stand and run toward the fire but stopped when a hand on her shoulder startled her. Edmund was standing behind her.
“Where did you come from?” she shouted as the wind blew all around her.
“I found my way out. I can save him. Unseal my magic. I can save him!”
“I don’t know how!”
“Imagine you are giving me a gift. A gift of magic.”
Sidonie didn’t hesitate. She reached out and put her hand on Edmund’s chest. She visualized handing him a present, wrapped in a small red box. Edmund stumbled back and lost his breath for a moment as his power was unleashed within him, then he ran back toward the way he came.
Her heart stuttered when she heard Dagan shout. Panic overcame her. He was dying, she just knew it. He was being burned alive by the fire that she was supposed to stop. She was the Elder Mage. She had the power and she was the only one who could use it. She was the only one who could save them all.
What am I supposed to do? I don’t know what to do. How do I—
She dropped to the ground on her hands and knees as her power took control of her body.
Her muscles stiffened and her skin went cold.
She couldn’t think but could only feel as the magic in her blood started to build.
She sat up and looked at the fire. She couldn’t explain it, but somehow, she knew exactly what to do.
It was as if her magic and her mind finally linked together.
Summoning ice again, she allowed the power to gather inside her then lifted her hands and released the magic that had been building.
A blast of enchanted ice and snow shot out of her palms. The force was so great that it caused her knees and legs to slide backward on the grass below her.
It only took her a moment to gain enough control that she could aim.
Then she stood. She started with the fire in front of her and moved her arms back and forth while she walked forward and obliterated every flame in her path. It was working, actually working, but too slowly.
The fire had grown so large that it would take too long to extinguish this way, so she stopped shooting the magic out. She thought of another way. Maybe the way she absorbed magic could be used in the reverse, to spread it.
Sidonie opened a terra circle and let it build while focusing on everything cold and wet. Instead of being surrounded by light, the air around her filled with shards of ice and snow, just waiting for her cue. She held until the magic in her body felt like it was about to burst.
Finally, she let it go. When she released, the magic exploded out from her in every direction. Crystals of ice, snow, and freezing cold air spread out, covering the fire and beyond.
“Get down!” Bree shouted when she saw something bright and white flying toward them. Everyone ducked behind the balcony wall. The blast of air that still hit them was cold and left their skin tingling as they stood back up and looked out on the dark horizon. The blue flames were gone.
Sidonie had never felt so amazing in all her life.
Even sex with Dagan was nothing compared to this.
She was connected to the land and her magic in a way that she could never fully explain in words.
She surveyed the land around her. Even though the sun was long gone, the sky was lit by tiny flakes of magical light, what was left behind after the wildfire was extinguished.
She spotted Edmund at the bottom of the hill. He was kneeling on the ground beside Dagan. She sprinted to him and collapsed by his side, gasping in relief when she realized he wasn’t dead. He was alive and awake, but his arm was broken.
“I fell,” Dagan grumbled, “when the blast came through. It wasn’t caused by magic so it can be healed.”
“Heal him,” Sid said, looking at Edmund. “I have someone else to deal with.”
She stood and looked around but she didn’t search with her eyes, she searched with her magic.
She spotted him, just on the other side of the hill.
He was moving slowly in the opposite direction.
He was trying to flee. She summoned air magic and even from this distance she stopped him in his tracks. Then she went to him.
Mereck was still immobile when she approached him. His long blonde hair that had been flying as he fled was frozen in mid-air. His eyes followed her as she walked around to face him.
“So you’re the one causing so much trouble for the realm,” she said. “Abusing magic, using it to destroy rather than create. It’s a terrible waste of your gifts, wizard.”
Even if he wanted to reply, he couldn’t have.
“The previous Elder Mage prohibited the use of wildfire and so do I,” she continued. “However, since I had not declared wildfire as forbidden before now, I will not kill you for it. But I cannot let you continue to use your magic.”
Just like before, she knew exactly what to do. She wouldn’t seal his magic because he could always try to convince the next Elder Mage to unseal it. Instead, she would take his magic away completely.
She raised her right arm up and used air magic to put a tighter squeeze around Mereck.
Then she focused her power. Every time his blood pumped through his heart, she sucked the magic from it.
A stream of sparkly light flowed out of his chest and into her palm.
As his magic poured into her, she funneled it through her body and into the ground.
Magic came from the land after all, so it seemed only fitting to return it there.
As she drained his magic, she looked into his eyes. Rage began to build up inside her. This wizard had tried to kill everyone she loved. He’d destroyed the Sabra’s homes and put her sisters in danger. He attacked Taten and Labara, who were completely innocent in all of this.
Sidonie.
And he set acres upon acres of land on fire in Junacave. So much damage was caused by the fire.
Sidonie, stop.
He had to pay for what he did. He needed to suffer.
Sidonie, please. Stop!
She felt something tugging at her, but she wasn’t sure what it was.
Sid! Please, stop!
She blinked and saw Dagan. He had her face in his hands and was shaking it.
“Can you hear me? Stop pulling from him. You’re killing him,” he said.
Sidonie blinked again and looked over to see Mereck lying on the ground, his body lurching. His magic was gone now, and she was sucking the life out of him. Immediately, she broke the connection. Mereck’s body stopped moving and the man groaned, in pain but alive.
Dagan sighed in relief then barely caught Sid before she collapsed.