Metal clashes behind me and Jarek shouts. Turning, I see he’s been hit in the leg with an arrow. Alaric beats me to his side, his teeth around the throat of Jarek’s assaulter. The blood on Jarek’s leg ignites a fire in me, but at first glance, it looks like it isn’t a fatal hit. My palms heat as I spin and face what’s left of the men.
Alaric’s magick pushes mine forward, giving it the extra strength it needs to do what must be done. My chest heaves as more bodies topple over the hill I’ve created, and the longer I look, the more my stomach sinks.
The next line of archers raises their arrows, and this time they’re tipped in fire. Just as those that burnt Loxley. As the first blazing arrow glides through the air, every single person I love flashes through my mind.
My mother.
Agnes.
The twins.
Jarek.
Samaria.
The wolves.
Sorin.
My hands are steady as I raise them before me.
The first flame-tipped arrow dips down as though it will drop right before my feet. I don’t give it a chance before I flick mywrists up, catching the fire with my magick, suspending it in the air like an orb. Using my opposite hand, I let the wind flow through my fingers. I open my mouth, and I fill my lungs with it. Then, my stomach. As much as I can possibly fill myself with, then I push it all forward until it hits the flames.
Heat and light explode around us, singeing the hair on my arms as I use all my energy to push the fire away from Jarek, Alaric, and I and toward the line of men. My hands shake and sweat beads across my forehead and upper lip and then everything explodes.
Screams are engulfed by the flames, ripping and roaring through the forest until my knees give out and I drop to the ground. Trees groan and crack under the heat of the fire, smoke plumes from each direction.
Faintly, I can hear Jarek calling for me, but the buzzing in my head is louder than his voice.
My chest hollows out as another tree falls, embers sizzling the pines and marring the bark.
As the heat dwindles and the screams fade, the smoke settles around the scorched forest. I swallow my tears. The men that once stood are now reduced to nothing but soot and ash and right in the center of destruction lands a tiny yellow bird.
A goldfinch.
My hands are blazing as I cover my eyes, unable to stomach the destruction I’ve caused. The people I’ve…
I killed them all.
You did what you had to do,Alaric says.
But the forest.
It will regrow, susi.
A noise amidst the eerie crackling of trees burning draws my attention.
“Jarek?” I call out, but through the black smoke I can’t see him.
“Elora.” The name settles over me, freezing my scorching hot skin. My eyes snap open as I suck in a sharp breath. It’s not Jarek’s voice, and he isn’t the figure that steps through the smoke.
Galen.
I’m on my feet in an instant, my hands ready to burn him as well when a wave of nausea roils through me, bending me at my middle.
“I’ll admit, it took longer than I anticipated to find you.” Galen steps closer, that coil of sickness pushing up my throat. He dusts a bit of fallen ash off of his shoulder, the movement opening his shirt just enough for me to get a glimpse at a purple stone that hangs from his neck.
“Elora!” Jarek’s voice steadies me. I can’t see him through the smoke, but he sounds close.
