“My second strike?” I asked, puzzled.
A taunting laugh bellowed, deep and rumbling. “You think because it’s been over a millennium that those who survived have forgotten? I assure you, we have not, even if you have. You’ll never get your hands on what you’re seeking. The best thing for you to do is to die. My kind will take it from here.”
My shadows lurched forward in every direction, desperate to grab onto something corporeal to pull from. To kill. But all I received was a burning kiss from the flames. I snatched them back toward me, never having encountered flames of this sort before. Dealing with fires from Elementals was no different from wrapping my shadows around a person’s throat. But these flames held no resemblance to the Elemental flames I’d grown used to.
Another round of taunting laughter came from the fire. “It’s tragic to know that we were all hanging our hopes on you for so long. My only apology is that we couldn’t get to you before Celanea did. Now, we must course correct. Goodbye, Chrome Freyr.” Then, in alanguage I didn’t understand, he intoned an incantation just as the wall of flames closed in on me like a tidal wave crashing in on itself.
The heat smothered me, singeing away the frayed ends of my cloak, burning holes in the sleeves and sides. Looking down, I saw my leather boots beginning to melt to the ground, gluing me in place. “Shit.”
As the flames licked my cheekbones, I closed my eyes, envisioning my chambers in the Goshen kingdom. My shadows swept my body away, and I dropped into my icy bedroom in the castle, breathing a sigh of relief that I’d escaped an agonizing torture by fire.
Chapter Twelve
Cotton
Istared, frozen, at the herd of Endarkened unicorns charging toward me and Valik. There were so many, and we were in no condition to make a run for the castle in time, especially not with it sitting at the top of a hill. Carrying Scarlett’s limp body didn’t help matters any. And Valik? He was dangerously pale and appeared to be on the verge of blacking out. Scarlett lay on the ground beside me, where I set her down, Valik standing in front of her as some form of protection.
The ground shook from the stampeding unicorns. Sweat slicked my palms, and my heart battered in my chest. Silently, I called on whatever gods that might’ve existed to help me. I didn’t know what options I had in such a short time frame, but anything would help.
My body buzzed. A new energy seemed to awaken within me. A symbol flashed in my mind, a foreign sigil that I’d never seen before, consisting of three wavy lines with straight ones framing them at the top and bottom.
Intuitively, I stretched my arm before me and began to trace the sigil in the air with a tremblingfinger. A rush of power surged through my body, setting me alight with energy that felt untainted. Elemental.
Air rippled from my chest, propelling outward while encompassing the three of us within its protection. I channeled the magic as wind thrust from my body in waves, forcing the unicorns to slam to a halt. They neighed and snorted, shaking their heads, while others reared back and pawed the ground.
I cast a glance over my shoulder to spot Valik behind me, shocked and confused.
“What,” Valik muttered as he gaped at the scene around us, “the fuck?”
I shrugged, hoping that he knew the answers.
“I knew there was more to you,” Valik said. “Can you keep that going until we reach the castle?”
I didn’t feel weakened by it. In fact, this magic didn’t seem to come from me at all. Rather, it felt like I was able to access it from the outside. Nodding, I spun and scooped Scarlett back up into my arms.
I gestured with my head in the direction of the castle, indicating for Valik to head that way. The unicorns sat just outside the shield of rippling magic that had formed a bubble around us, pissed.
My muscles burned from exhaustion, but I stared in wonder at the shield around us as we finished our hike back to safety. The white light that emanated from it was subtle, glistening around us as the setting sun cast its glow.
Climbing the hill nearly destroyed me as I pushed my body to keep going. But once we were within the wards of the castle that protected us from anyone or anything, including Syphon Bonds, I released my hold on the strange magic.
“What aren’t you telling me, Cotton?” Valik asked as we approached the large double doors leading inside.
I frowned and shook my head, adjusting Scarlett to sit higher in my hold.
Valik scrutinized me, trying to make sense of something in myaura that wasn’t adding up to him. Clearly, he didn’t believe that I knew just as little as he did.
Shaking his head, he turned to walk inside, pushing the double doors open for us to plod through. I kept going through the entryway, taking Scarlett to the receiving room to place her on a cushioned settee. Aside from Valik, no one else except for Scarlett and I stayed here, so I had to make sure that she would be taken care of.
Valik trailed behind, stopping several feet behind me as I gently lowered Scarlett down onto the cushions. Her breathing seemed steady, and her complexion had returned to her normal shade. My arms ached and hung limply at my sides from the long walk carrying her.
“Okay, so we’re gonna skip past the whole Syphon Bonded unicorn thing and jump to the part where you just manifested some non-Kinetic magic when death was but an asshair away from us.”
I sagged my shoulders, sighing into the tension leaving them and my back. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say, not that I could anyway.
“Cotton,” Valik urged. “If there’s more to you than you’ve been leading on and you’ve been holding out on me…”
I turned around, my chest heaving. Clenching my teeth, I threw my arms out to the side, shaking my head.
