He lifted his hand, and the air around him distorted, light bending into a translucent shield that spread outward in a soft, opalescent curve. It hummed faintly in the silence. Ella’s magic stirred in response, heat pricking along her palms. She lifted them, fire spilling in white-gold arcs that licked toward the barrier.
The flames broke against his shield like surf against a cliff, dissolving into harmless mist. Jakobav’s voice cut through the trees, low and commanding. “Again.”
Ella drew her fire back, then let it unfurl again. It obeyed instantly, the blaze more controlled, the color deeper. A jolt shot through her. Even at her most skilled in Orchid, her magichad never burned this fiercely. The Claiming had deepened and honed it, as though the spring had reforged her fire.
Jakobav braced against her power, shoulders tight, his shield holding steady although she could see the strain working through the muscles in his jaw. “More,” he demanded, and the translucent dome expanded outward, shimmering with that opalescent gleam. The shield swelled larger than before, vibrating across the clearing, and Thane let out a rough, ringing cheer.
“There he is,” Thane called, grinning fiercely, his voice rolling like thunder. “That’s our future king.”
A sense of pride moved through the group.
Even Savina’s mouth twitched faintly, though she masked it quickly. Their excitement settled over Ella, her flames feeding on it until she was alight from fingertips to crown, grateful now more than ever for the impressive garment she wore.
She released her fire in one final rush, then drew it back, letting the white-gold arcs gutter and die against the wind drifting through the clearing. Jakobav’s shield still hung in the air, bright and suspended like glass, until the surface shuddered.
It pulsed once, faltered, and split with a jagged seam. A shockwave burst outward, splintering the ground in a widening fissure that tore straight toward Soren.
The world narrowed to a single point. Something surged inside her, an instinct so deep it hollowed her chest and bent the air around her. Her body moved before thought could form. She thrust out both hands.
The clearing warped. Light folded inward, and a ripple opened in front of her, thin and gleaming—roughly the height of Thane. Jakobav’s power slammed into it and vanished. Not broken. Not destroyed. Simply gone—pulled through to somewhere beyond this realm.
The tear in the Veil snapped shut as fast as it appeared.
Ella staggered. She’d opened it without thinking at all.
The Claiming had awakened her more than she realized.
The hum in her ears deepened, rattling her bones. She stood on the edge of the fissure Jakobav’s shield had torn into the ground, the split running jagged toward where Soren had been standing. Its path ended in an abrupt line, the earth severed cleanly at the exact point where the rest of Jakobav’s power had been shunted into the tear in the Veil she had created.
The ripple wavered once, the air thinning around its edges before the tear sealed shut. The last trace of it vanished, leaving only the raw scar in the earth. Ella stumbled back, sweat slick on her skin.
When the haze lifted, Soren stood unscathed. He raised one dark brow, his expression flat, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of surprise. “Not bad.” His tone was flat, but the respect was unmistakable.
The clearing held its breath. No one moved, no one spoke, the silence ringing louder than a roar. They only stared at her.
Bryn’s brows shot up, and for once, his grin was muted. “Remind me never to stand in front of you when you’re improvising.”
Jakobav clenched his jaw and ignored their comments, his gaze cutting to Ella as he closed the space between them. “What was that?” His voice was low and edged with fury, but fear hid beneath it. “You could’ve been hit. And by my own shield. Unacceptable.”
Ella’s temper rose, raw and unchecked, shoving his chest hard enough to force him back a step. “And you could have killed him, Commander.” She let the title linger like an insult.
The air throbbed, deeper than anger, intensified by the effects of this place. She understood why no one ever came here.
His face eased for a single breath, something unguarded flashed before he forced it down. “Will you stop hurling yourselftoward death before I can reach you?” he asked, the last word breaking rough in a way she’d never heard from him. “Please.”
She crossed her arms, refusing to respond.
Jakobav’s hand brushed a strand of her hair, fleeting and almost tender, the touch deflating her fury before she could hold onto it.
Maeren stepped forward, her voice ringing like tempered iron. “You ripped his power out of the air, Ella. That wasn’t fire. You opened a seam in the Veil. How did you even do that? Was it the Claiming?”
Savina’s gaze was cool, assessing, her tone softer but no less direct. “Any other tricks you’ve been hiding, Princess? If there are, now’s the time to speak. You’re in this circle. That means no more surprises.”
The words tightened within her chest. Being “in this circle” should have felt like safety, but it carried expectation, and the knowledge that she was no longer only responsible for herself. She still held secrets, some Jakobav knew, others she hadn’t dared to voice. But for the first time in years, she felt guilty for keeping them.
“I don’t even know where to start. The last few weeks have swallowed me whole,” she admitted, her voice unsteady. “I’m still catching up to what happened days ago, let alone what happened in that arena.”
Their eyes focused on her, questions brimming, especially in Thane, whose usual grin was absent, his watchfulness turned solemn.
