“What? Don’t you want this body, too? You seemed to be desperate to have it just a second ago.” His body uncoiled toward me dangerously, the shoulders squared and back straighter than Ryland ever held himself. He towered over me as I continued to slip in the rubble. The building rocked with another explosion and I lost my balance, landing on my stomach.
Ryland reached down as I slid around in a desperate attempt to find my balance, and his large hand wrapped around my neck as he lifted me up. I was being choked at the pressure, my lungs unable to take in breath.
“Hello, pretty girl,” he sneered as he brought me up to face him, the depths of his black eyes staring back at me acidly.
I didn’t have time to react before he shot a flame against my abdomen. The powerful surge collided against my stomach, burning away the lower half of my shirt. The strength of the pulse shot me away from him, flinging me through the air to land hard on the marble floor twenty feet away, the impact sending a painful jolt rippling through me. I sighed as I rolled over onto my back, my body protesting the movement.
I should be hurt; I felt a powerful warmth, smelt the burnt fabric, but there was no pain. I looked at my stomach in confusion. The bottom of my shirt had been destroyed; the skin below it was blackened like charcoal, but nothing more. I wiped away the black residue, surprised to see no wound. My stomach was intact, the skin pale and smooth beneath the ash.
A white orb collided angrily against my chest, sliding my body across the floor with the impact. My attention was pulled from my stomach as Ryland’s new attack sent me slamming into the wall. I looked up just in time to see him land in front of me, another pulse already prepared to fling my way.
I knew I should fight him, I knew I should attack him as he was attacking me, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I couldn’t bring my magic to me with enough strength to defend myself from the Trpaslík, let alone fight or injure Ryland. The thought of purposely harming him set my heart into a flutter of pain.
I scuttled to the side, the attack shattering the wall behind me instead. Without thinking, I grabbed a table next to me and flung it at him. My heart sank as I watched it fly, terror gripping me at the impending impact. It had almost reached him before he swayed to the side, the table flying uselessly past.
He walked toward me, smiling wickedly as I continued to shoot objects in his direction. All my attempts were useless; the small pieces of what my wind could grab and carry were either dodged, deflected, or they bounced uselessly off his chest. I knew I needed to fight back more intently, I knew I needed to try, but my heart wouldn’t let me.
“Throwing things with wind; is that the extent of your power?” Ryland raised both of his hands toward me; I could feel his wind build around me as he shot all the useless objects I had sent toward him right back at me, but with a much greater force and in a quicker succession. I shielded my head as the wall on either side of me was pelted with the arsenal. Plaster and small rocks flew into my hair and bounced painfully against my bare skin.
The onslaught ended, and I looked up toward Ryland, hoping to see his blue eyes staring back at me. Instead, I saw a table. The table I had thrown at him was coming back to me at full speed. My mind went blank as I watched it barrel toward me, its four legs spinning in my direction. I wrapped myself into a ball just a moment before it hit. The legs had sunk deep into the wall around me, the tabletop stopping right before it came in contact with my body, pinning me in place instead of crushing me.
Ryland took the last few steps toward me, stopping right in front of me. I shrank away from his acidic gaze, terrified to find that there really was nowhere for me to go.
He reached down to cup my face, his hand cold and unfamiliar against my skin.
“You know, if I could break you, I would keep you.” He smiled as he leaned down, his eyes level with mine. “My own pretty, little pet.”
He dragged his icy fingers against my lower lip, the weight of his touch pushing my lip roughly to the side. I couldn’t rip my focus from him. His face looked the same, but he wasn’t Ryland anymore. He wasn’t the boy I had grown up with, the one I loved so deeply. My heart whipped back and forth as I fought my feelings. I had to get out of here before the monster in front of me did something that Ryland would regret. I knew I needed to fight—actually fight him. I just hoped that I wouldn’t hurt him.
I placed my hands against the table that entrapped me, surging my magic aggressively into it, hoping that it would have the desired effect. While, not the explosion I had hoped for, the table did fly away from me, taking Ryland with it. He flew helplessly through the air, only to land twenty feet away, the heavy table landing on top of him.
I jumped up, desperate to escape from the monster that had possessed Ryland’s body. I ran only a few steps, my body preparing to launch into the air before a dead weight hit against my back, pushing me back down onto the floor. I tried to fight it, but couldn’t budge against the power that held me in place. I looked toward where Ryland had landed; fear now gripping me as I saw him approaching, his hand rising to aim in my direction.
An energy stream of blue waves shot over me, ramming into Ryland’s chest and stopping his progress. He only sneered at its sudden appearance, as if the powerful magic was no match for him. The magical barrier lifted off me and I rolled onto my knees, surprised to see Ovailia standing with her hands extended before her. My mouth dropped in shock at her perfectly poised figure, her cold-set eyes. She didn’t even acknowledge my existence; she simply stepped over me as she approached Ryland.
I didn’t dare look back before turning to run. The ground around me exploded and shook. I bobbed around, desperately attempting to avoid the fights and explosions around me before jumping into the sky. I sped through the air up onto the balcony that encircled the large room. I landed swiftly and continued moving, looking for a doorway or an alcove where I could hide.
The balcony below my feet shook, and I dropped to the floor, terrified it was about to collapse. It continued to shake as I lay still against the dust-covered carpet. I cautiously moved myself toward the edge to look below me. The floor of the ballroom was chaos. Colored explosions shook the air as unguided objects flew around and collided. Tracks of color and power flew from hands as the two sides fought relentlessly against each other.
Snakes of red surged from one Trpaslík, only to collide with one of our group whose name I couldn’t remember. The red tendrils wrapped around her as she was slammed aggressively into the floor, her screams only barely audible over the sound of battle. I scanned the crowd, looking for anyone I knew. Ovailia was running, her direction taking her right out the door in pursuit of someone. I kept looking, happy to find Wyn still alive, battling back-to-back with Talon against her own brother. I reluctantly looked away from her in an attempt to find the person who was responsible for this whole charade, but Edmund had vanished.
Ryland was walking determinedly toward Ilyan who had caught sight of him, but was still engaged in another fight. I watched as Ilyan dashed from one place to another, lightning shooting toward the small Trpaslík he was dutifully fighting. The Trpaslík was no match for Ilyan, who swiped his hand before him and sent his enemy flying right into a group of trapped teenagers who had taken refuge under the stairs.
Ilyan turned and faced his brother, his hands moving roughly to either side, sending every bit of rubble that lay uselessly on the floor up into the air and toward Ryland’s advancing form. Ryland yelled and called out in pain as he was pelted by the array of ammo, the force of the attack causing him to slide away against the floor. Ilyan did not wait for him to recover; his hands moved again, producing what could only be explained as a chain of magical energy.
The links of power crackled and sizzled in front of Ilyan, the bright white light, shining throughout the room. Ilyan pushed the chain toward Ryland; it wrapped around him, restraining his movements. It was only just visible before his body seemed to absorb it. Ryland moved his hands up in a counterattack toward his brother, but I didn’t see anything further. A large crack sounded in my ears as a heavy body landed directly to my left.
I spun around with a small scream. A well-dressed man with a neatly-trimmed beard was hovering near me, his sneer barely visible through the brown hair. My heart clenched in fear at what could have been Timothy’s twin. I backed away from him, careful to keep my body from falling off the unstable edge of the balcony.
The tiny man said nothing; he only laughed as he raised his fingers and snapped repeatedly. At each snap, small explosions shook and shredded the ground around me. I squealed and screamed in panic as I was littered with sparks and debris from the explosions. The Trpaslík took another step forward, his hands still raised menacingly.
I flung my hands toward him, his body flying away from me as my attack hit him square in the chest. He hit the floor, came to a standing position, and began to advance, more explosions rocking the floor with each step he took toward me. I raised my hand again, sending a weaker wave toward him. He stepped back as it collided with him, but recovered quickly.
I did not wait to find out what his intentions were. I rolled off the balcony, sending my body flailing into the fight below. I had only fallen a few feet when I caught myself, my strong wind catching my spinning body as I moved myself toward yet another portion of the steadily deteriorating balcony.
I only made it halfway across the large space before a large mass landed on my back, dropping me down to the floor of the ballroom like a boulder. I crashed hard into the marble floor, my back instantly clenching in pain. I screamed out as I fought to get away from whatever had landed on me, surprised when hands shot out and enclosed my wrists.
“Thought you could run from The Master did you? Stupid, little half-breeds.” The Trpaslík who had attacked me on the balcony pushed me down onto the floor, his legs straddling me as he restricted my movements.
I clawed and fought and threw any little rocks I could at him, but it was no use. He batted away my pathetic arsenal before clasping his hands on either side of my face as I had seen Ilyan do to someone else only a moment before. I screamed out as I felt the heat growing in his hands. It continued to build until it felt like a fire was burning inside my skull, its raging power boiling inside of my head. My vision blacked out as the pain grew, as my screams increased. Then it was gone.
The Trpaslíks weight left my hips as he fell to the side, his lifeless body slumping onto the cold floor. I sat up, my vision returning. I didn’t wait to find out who my savior was; I simply turned and jumped, taking off into the air again. My fear had supercharged my magic, and I slammed into the balcony on the opposite wall, unable to stop myself in time.
I panted as I stood, my back seizing in pain. I ran forward, toward a door that would lead me out, my left leg dragging a bit. If I could just get to the door, I could make it to the large, second-floor balcony and escape as Ilyan had wanted me to. I didn’t make it far before another body landed in front of me, the body unfolding to face me.
“Cail,” I gasped.
“Awww, you remember me. How sweet. Probably not as well as I remember you.” He raised his hand to me and a bright red light flew toward me. He didn’t let it build as he had before; I had no warning this time. I leapt to the side, my back flattening against the hard wall. The red ball erupted right where I had been standing, sending out the wood and stone of the wall in a splintering explosion. Cail looked at me and smiled.
I raised my hand and released the prickling energy in a rush. It slammed into him, but the energy wasn’t strong enough to do any damage. He laughed as he straightened out to face me, while I turned and went to launch myself off the balcony again.
My feet had just left the ground when Cail’s wind intercepted me and slammed me back, hard against the wall of the balcony I had just left. The wind continued to move around me and hold me in place, my shirt whipping around.
“You and your mother,” he mocked as he walked toward me, his steps faltering as an explosion from below shook the room. “You are both such fighters. Why can’t you die easily? But, you know it’s going to end the same way, don’t you?” He came to stand right next to me and I cringed against him, my body unable to resist the pull of his magic.
“You both end up dead.” He placed his hand against my stomach, his palm against my skin. I could feel it grow cold as his magic entered me before beginning to warm as he generated a ball of energy. He formed it inside of me, the weapon building underneath my skin. I screamed out as the warmth turned into a burning heat.
“Let her go.” Ryland’s powerful voice filled the air as he landed roughly on the balcony beside us. He leaned against a large pillar, his body obviously weakened as he continued to fight his father’s invasion of his mind. His body twitched uncomfortably, but his eyes were back to a bright shade of blue.
“Really?” Cail mocked, the heat continuing to move and grow inside of me. “You think you have enough energy to fight me?”
“I don’t...” Ryland panted, “but she does.”
The ball of fire within me grew to a tumult as my energy drained away, filtering out of my body. I could feel my magic move into Ryland, the power increasing as our magics intertwined with one another, growing stronger with their union. My magic drained as Ryland shot a ball of intense golden light toward Cail. The impact sent him flying, his body tumbling off the balcony into the fight below. Ryland collapsed to the floor, his body twitching as he sank.
With no wind to hold me up, I fell roughly to the ground as well, the heat from Cail leaving a terrible pain in my stomach. I crawled to Ryland, placing my arms around his neck when I reached him. He twitched again, and I forced his face up to look at me, thankful for his beautiful blue eyes.
“How did you do that?” I panted, the pain still lingering in my belly.
“I can do anything with you.” He tried to smile, but it was only a grimace.
Ryland reached forward and placed his hand on the skin of my stomach exactly where Cail’s hand had lain. I felt my magic swell and grow as Ryland pulled it toward him, stopping it right before it left me to join him. The warmth stayed there and took the pain away almost instantly.
“How...?”
“Anything... with... you...” He twitched again, his whole body was shaking, but he refused to take his eyes off me.
I reached my hand forward; he grabbed it, pressing my fingertips to his lips.
“Love... you… always…” His shaking became uncontrollable as his eye color began to fade. I watched in agony as Edmund took over.
“No!” I clutched his hands desperately. “Don’t leave me!”
“Always.” His voice was broken and wispy in my ear as he pulled my hand against the side of his face. He pressed my fingers roughly to him, his grip tightening in his fear of losing me.
“No!”
Before the change could complete, the balcony shifted and collapsed. I held tightly to Ryland’s hand as we were thrown over the edge, our bodies tumbling toward the fire-filled conflict that raged below. I swept wind to us, hoping the weak energy would catch us before we landed hard against the floor; instead, the wind flung us into a heap in the corner.
My body was entangled with Ryland’s as we collided with the wall, but I wasn’t there for long before Ryland grabbed me and shot me away from him in a surge of wind and energy. My body slammed into another wall, and I felt my back pop. There was no agony with it, so I stood, thankful that it had not broken again. I steadied myself just as Ryland landed in front of me, a wave of energy slamming into my stomach. I felt no pain; only pressure as the energy surge pushed me back, trapping me in place.
“Hello again, little pet,” Ryland sneered as he walked toward me, his black eyes shimmering wickedly as he laughed. I cringed away from his advance, but my body was restrained again by his magic.
“Not going to try to attack me with your weak magic?” Ryland was right in front of me now. He leaned intimately close to me, one hand resting on the wall beside my head. I could feel his breath against my face; feel his hip as he pushed it against me. He smiled wickedly, and I felt the bile rise dangerously in my throat.
“That’s okay; I have another idea.” His voice was a sickening purr.
His hand moved into my line of vision, his fingers twiddling together, small sparks flashing from the surge in his magic. The sparks he produced continued to grow as his fingers rubbed together wildly. In only a moment, a small dagger appeared in his hand, the small silver blade glinting wickedly in the magical light that flashed and pulsed around us.
“You love this body, don’t you, little girl?” He smiled wickedly. I couldn’t look away from the dagger that spun between his fingers. “You love the way it looks, the way it makes you feel.” He pushed his hip further into me; I gasped in pain at the pressure.
“Well, this body, it loves you, too.”
The dagger stopped spinning and my eyes flew to his with a glimmer of hope. It was pointless.
“But I don’t,” he said.
I didn’t even see the movement; I was too consumed with looking at his face. One minute there was no pain, and the next, the pain had moved beyond me. I screamed as the tiny dagger began to dig its way into the skin that covered my heart. I felt the warmth of my own blood drizzling down my chest as the dagger slowly worked its way into my chest, deeper and deeper, toward my beating heart.
“That doesn’t hurt, does it?” Ryland’s voice was so joyous; he enjoyed watching my agony as he tortured me.
“Ryland!” I screamed his name, my voice finding form as the pain grew. “Fight him, Ryland!” The evil imposter who restrained me only laughed as he dug the knife deeper into my skin.
“Sad. I don’t think he can hear you.”
“Ryland! It’s me. It’s Joclyn. Snap out of it, please!”
He only laughed with increased malice. I screamed again, feeling the blood pool around the waistline of my tight pants.