“It's growing more intense. I think it’s the magic, I think it wants me to wield it. The longer I don’t, it’s like it’s punishing me.”
Maybe The Eleven hadn’t had a choice but to wield dark magic. In their cruelty, they sentenced Dae to the same fate. I wanted to scream so loudly that the earth split and sucked up these wretched beings for the harm they’d caused.
A figure came into view, one of The Eleven walking amongst the darkness.
“We have to stop him!” I shouted, drawing everyone’s attention. Unfortunately, I whirled around to see another member of The Eleven closing in from the west, bringing just as much dark destruction in her wake. “Another!”
“Jasper!” Tio called. He whispered and beckoned the gargoyle to follow. Together, they ran straight for the woman.
Dae took off, running for the man.
“Melody!” Nora shouted for her sister, bringing her attention to the two people walking safely through the spreading magic from the northeast. But they didn’t walk atop the inky veins, it cleared out of their way.
“They’re regular magic wielders!” I informed the sisters. Nora nodded in confirmation, and signaled for Melody to advance with her.
I bolted through the huddled mass of soldiers, running directly into the fray as our peoplepinpointed the enemies closing in from the surrounding woods. Magic sliced through the air, attacks from Highcrest and Duski wielders hurtling toward the sparse adversaries in the woods.
Harnessing multiple magics, members from The Order sent diverse attacks into our dense army. Fire balls crashed into bodies and didn’t dissipate until their target fell motionless. Roots lurched upward, wrapping around legs and midsections, and descended back into the ground with such force that bodies broke and contorted before my eyes.
Whips made of water lashed our soldiers’ exposed skin, leaving huge gashes in their wake. Half a dozen creatures ran into the action, slashing and fighting against magicless guardsmen. Wind blazed around groups of people, lifting them into the air in a spinning tornado before sending them flying against trees where they would strike with force too strong to survive or be impaled on branches.
Destructive veins continued writhing, crawling forward from the outskirts. In the disorienting array of attacks, soldiers were tossed directly into the dark magic, or weren’t aware when it got too close. Life instantly drained from their bodies, leaving nothing but sickly, shriveled corpses behind within a matter of seconds.
Death was all around, thriving, drinking up the carnage. A quiver full of arrows and a bow sat on a flatbed of supplies, untouched since most soldiers in this front and middle section were wielders. Pretty gods damned fortunate for me.
A familiar face caught my eye, and I stilled. Wearing his classic vest with no shirt, wrists bound in leather cuffs with his own bow and quiver strapped to his back, Ravinder blasted his wind, sending two Order members ricocheting off trees.
“Hey, you made it,” I said, nearly breathless and overwhelmed at seeing my friend.
He gave me a double take, and his eyes widened. “You’re alive,” he said with a little too much disbelief than I cared for.
“For now,” I replied dryly, grabbing the bow and quiver and flinging it onto my back. “You owe me a beer,” I stated nonchalantly.
“Oh, do I? And why is that?” He fought a losing battle with the smirk across his lips, and that familiar strike of pride hit me.
I simply shrugged. “I just think I’ve done a lot to deserve it.”
He shook his head with a chuckle, glancing briefly at the ground before looking up with a degree of tenderness that warmed my heart. “Deal.”
I smiled, not affording myself another moment to consider the losses we shared and the pain he’d endured before turning on my heel and racing back to Dae.
Through the haze of magic and weapons, I focused on one thing: returning to fight alongside my friends. Step after steppounded against the soft ground, the beat almost hypnotic. It was that moment of disassociation that nearly ended me.
“RO!”
At the same moment flames heated my skin, a wall of water erected against it. Steam hissed like a territorial cat, and I stumbled. Jai appeared at my side, encouraging me to stand. Kaval blasted his elemental water toward an Order member. The sleeve of my shirt was charred and wet.
“Thanks, kid,” I said to the youngest Pradeep brother.
He flashed his boyish smile. “Time to fight fire with fire.”
The water wall dropped, soaking the grass around our feet. Jai thrust his forward facing palms, releasing a steady stream of whipping flames directly for the Order member who’d targeted me. As Kaval called the water from the ground to wield again, forest roots exploded from the soil, wrapping around his shins. They squeezed and ripped Kaval from where he stood, dragging his body away from our cluster of soldiers and into the forest.
I spotted the wielder responsible and my heart shuddered. A thick line of black makeup ran over his eyes. One of The Eleven. The living forest pulled Kaval away from his comrades, heading straight for the inky lines of decay that creeped forward from the accepted.
Time seemed to slow. Jai’s terrified scream muffled against the solid beat in my ears. I’d lined my shot while taking in the inevitable scene, and released.
But I was too late.
