Or I could set her free. She claimed to want to help, but her sincerity was a mystery. I wished to believe her, pathetic as it seemed.
Another growl escaped me. Killing her felt wrong, but her deception cut deep. She had the power and cleverness to be lethal.
My skin grew hot with frustration, fire burning for a release. So, I released it.
A circle of flame surrounded us and the single tree in the extensive field. Its heat brushed up against my skin, hot enough to be uncomfortable to all except for the one wielding it. My conjuring would not harm me. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for her.
Ariana’s heart fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. Death by fire wouldn’t be a painless one. Still, she remained silent as her large green eyes remained locked on me.
“Go ahead.” My voice was a snarl. “Put the flames out,conjuror.” I commanded her to do something I was fairly certain she could not, not while I held her hands pinned above her head.
She tried to move her hands anyway, her crutch, but could not free them from my hold. I then felt her try anyway. I sensed tiny wisps of moisture lick the flames from their base on the ground, but it was too little to ever hope of putting a dent in the fire surrounding us.
Sweat beaded on Ariana’s forehead with both effort and the heat of the blazing fire. Finally, the little bits of moisture she could conjure died out. She failed.
In the distance, yelling erupted from the perimeter of the Bavadrin city. Panic had grown, yet they remained sealed away. Ariana was not only using the barrier to keep me out, but she was also using it to keep them in, keeping them away.
Briefly, I glanced at the wall she created for her people, surprised to find it still fully erect. There was no sign of weakening. If she were to release her hold on it, then maybe she could hope to survive my flames. Certainly, she must have known most of her energy was keeping the wall up. Conjuring anything while maintaining such a thing would prove to be more difficult.
“Spare them,” she said when noticing my attention was on the village beyond instead of her. “This wasn’t their doing.”
Ariana was unlike the others of her kind. She unquestionably was cunning, as was warned of the Bavadrins, but they were never known to be selfless. They were painted as greedy and selfish. Yet there was a nobility to Ariana, like a cloak that perpetually hung around her.Noble. A word I never even dreamt of equating to a Bavadrin, especially one who was so capable of fooling me.
My anger shifted its attention from her onto myself. I had beenthe monster who took her from her home and tried to force her to do my bidding. She may have hidden her conjuring from me, but she only used it in an attempt to come home, never against me or the Lysians except now to protect herself. Yet when the roles were reversed, I used flame to burn her city and her people. I would have destroyed everything in my path were she not brave enough to pull my attention and give me her father. I was the Lysian the Bavadrins warned their children of, but she was not the Bavadrin we had been told of.
The surrounding fire vanished, and I looked at her once more.
Her breath was shallow and quick with the panic she was trying her best to control. The scent of fear clung to her. She thought I may end her life, and suddenly both sadness and regret flooded me.
I leaned closer, her breath hitching. She should fear me. The monster who trapped her. If it were Edmond in this position, then he would have snapped her neck without hesitation.
“You need to keep a larger distance from your enemies, and you need to learn to conjure without the use of your hands.” I gave her two bits of advice before releasing her.
Her large green eyes stared at me, yet she did not move a single muscle.
I would have preferred to put a healthy distance between us, but the archers going mad on top of their walled perimeter kept me confined to the shelter of the tree. I could only take two steps away from her. Like a caged animal, I searched for an escape, finding no good option. Everything was too open in the grassland. I could try to run. I was fast, but I did not know how skilled the archers were. There were stories of Bavadrins annihilating droves of Lysians with their deadly arrows. I did not know if those along the wall were still as skilled as their ancestors. I could attempt to encase myself in flames until disappearing from view. That would likely be the best choice given the situation.
Ariana brought her hands together in front of her, rubbing her wrists. Her eyes averted, a look of confusion passing through them. I wondered what she was thinking at that moment. Her hand then moved, her focus shifting to the wall that separated us from her people.
I tensed, expecting the barrier to drop, for her people to swarm out and try to imprison me for my actions. Many of them would not survive such an attempt, but they could certainly try.
To my surprise, the wall only grew, rising further into the sky, blocking the archers completely.
Just as I released her, she was releasing me.
The sounds of flustered Bavadrins rose over the barrier Ariana created. They did not like losing sight of their Superior.
“You are not my enemy, Erik,” Ariana said, turning her attention back to me. Though she was very much the same girl who had been living under my roof that entire time, she appeared different. In a way, she appeared more whole. The puzzle of who she was became less of a mystery. Her courage and strength ever since I met her now fit with the person standing before me. No longer was it misplaced.
“That is still to be determined,” I commented. Only time would tell whether I was making a mistake in releasing her.
She remained standing with her back to the tree while I walked from her.
Mounting my horse, I rode off without another word, leaving her with Rain as a parting gift.
Ariana’s gaze followed me as I moved further and further across the lands until we were no longer able to see one another.
39
