I debated whether to get involved. It didn’t matter to me if the Kinetics won this battle, but maybe I could use this as a chance to take Gray away to Goshen with me in the chaos.
More Kinetics began to filter through the premises, launching energetic attacks over the ground, lighting up the sky in vibrant colors. Urgent shouts and orders rang out from the lodge as Elementals took to defending their home.
Not long ago, I’d fought with them on these same grounds. This time, I was here for Gray.
Wind began to lash against the Kinetic forces, knocking them back into trees that seized onto them with their branches, twisting around their waists or necks, squeezing until their torsos were spliced in half or their heads dropped from their necks to roll on the ground. Clever.
Two Kinetics caught my eye as they rushed toward the barn. I cocked my head to the side. They must’ve sensed the Kinetic prisoner being held within, but knowing my girl, she wanted to hold him for a reason.
Making my decision, I let my shadows fall away from me, exposing me to the melee unfolding on the Hollow’s grounds. Popping my neck and shaking out my wrists, I strolled toward the barn with ease, unaffected by the maelstrom of Elemental and Kinetic magics or the sound of blades clashing.
My shadows slithered along my arms until they danced off the tips of my fingers, itching to be unleashed as I approached the hole in the side of the barn.
“Chrome?”
I paused, turning to face Orion, the uncle who’d been like a father to me.
Four Kinetics within the barn came rushing out. Two dragged an unconscious man—the prisoner—by his ankles behind them, while the other two flanked for security. Upon seeing Orion and me, they froze, then reached for the weapons in their belts.
My shadows darted out, grabbing hold of the daggers before they could, swiftly plunging them into the Kinetics’ temples. The unconscious prisoner’s feet plopped to the earth.
Without pause, Orion launched two knives, adding his element to bolster the speed as the orange sigils whizzed through the night and into their throats. The two flanking Kinetics dropped to the ground, no longer a threat.
“Chrome,” Orion repeated.
“Uncle,” I returned, meeting his eyes with my own.
Orion studied me. “You came back to us?”
I scoffed. “I’m here forher.”
My uncle paled. “What do you want with Gray?”
I couldn’t help the mocking, sympathetic smile that formed. “Orion Silas. Can’t be happy unless he’s saving someone from their own destruction, even if it means destroying himself.”
Orion blanched at my tone, hurt flashing in his wizened eyes.
“I hate to break it to you, Uncle, but Gray is destined to be more than just the leader of the Elementals in Terraguard. You’re only holding her back by keeping her here.”
A Kinetic blast flew at my head—microwave, it seemed. One of my shadows lurched out, suffocating the energy like a blanket would a flame.
Orion’s lips parted, eyes wide at the motion. “How… What kind of mag?—”
I chuckled. “Nothing for you to be concerned about.” The amount of power I’d used to travel here required a lot, and the hunger inside me was beginning to surface, gnawing on my organs to let me know it wanted to replenish again.
I focused on Orion’s aura, sensing his power. He was my father’s brother, making him royalty. Knowing what I did now about the Elemental royal line, I knew his energy would be a high I wouldn’t want to come down from.
My fingers twitched, and a shiver rippled down my spine in anticipation. “Where is she?”
Orion spun, splitting the air into a blast behind him by guiding the element with his hands. The blast slammed into the two oncoming Kinetics, sending them airborne to both sides. “Leave Gray alone, Chrome,” he said over his shoulder.
“You can’t stop me, Uncle. I’m not leaving without her.”
Orion shook his head, turning to look at me, his face crestfallen. “Don’t make me fight you.”
“You can’t.”
“I can,” he said. “And will. I won’t lose her to your curse, too.”
