One thought of him, and the red clouds began to part, leaving room for clarity and her earlier words to shine through.I don’t want to be like her.
Taking a deep breath, Auraelia spooled some of her magic back into her veins.
I’m not a murderer, but Iwillfight for what I love.
Davina’s magic slammed into Auraelia, ice filling her veins and stealing the breath from her lungs, her assault faltering as her muscles turned rigid.
No, this can’t be happening.
Auraelia reached deep within her well of power. Let the fire in her veins melt away the ice that was determined to take root. When Davina was only an arm’s length away, she took her shot. Lunging forward, she gripped her by the arms and let her lightning course through Davina’s veins.
Her eyes shot wide with a mix of fear and anger, her mouth left gaping as Auraelia’s magic assaulted her system.
“I said, getoutof my court. And if I ever see you again, it will not be my blood that is being washed away in the rain.”
Davina staggered backward as Auraelia released her grip, her nostrils flaring in her rage. But when she tried to lift her arm toward Auraelia, she cried out in pain. Burns the shape of Auraelia’s hands, with trails of what looked like lightning streaking out from them, marked each of her arms.
There was a small part of her that was sorry for the burns she’d inflicted; she’d never been the one to intentionally hurt someone. But as she watched the blood slowly seep from Davina’s ears, just like they had Xander’s, that small part died.
“Leave, Davina. I won’t tell you again.”
Cringing, Davina reached into her tunic and pulled out a clear crystal attached to a chain. One that looked strikingly familiar to the one stowed away in a box in her chambers.
She watched as Davina gripped the stone in her hand, then disappeared into a flurry of snow.
Fucking Caius.
After a few deep breaths to calm her pounding heart, Auraelia pulled back what remained of her magic. But as the clouds began to disperse, and the clear blue winter sky was once more overhead, the devastation that Davina had brought to Lyndaria was glaring.
Every step she took through the city made her want to break down and cry.
Almost every home was destroyed, or at the very least, uninhabitable. Black scorch marks covered every visible surface. Windows had been blown out either from the heat or from the flames themselves, and some homes were gone altogether.
The gardens and wisteria were nothing but ash, mixing with the debris and rubble that covered the streets.
And herpeople.
Everywhere she looked, her people were crying. Tears streaming down their soot-covered faces, leaving flesh-toned tracks in their wake.
Children cried out for their mothers or fathers.
Women roamed the streets, calling out for missing loved ones, while men scoured the rubble.
No one noticed who was among them. And with that thought, Auraelia knelt down in the street and wept.
Wept for her mother and for the healing of her brother.
Cried for her people, the lost, and those who had lost someone.
She stayed there for a few moments and just let herselffeel.
Let all of the pain and grief and sorrow wash over her like violent waves in a storm. Let it soak into her soul and erode away the stone that she’d built around her heart.
Enough.
She’d been closed off from pain for long enough. She needed to heal so that she could help her people heal.
Wiping her nose on her sleeve, Auraelia stood, took a deep breath, then headed to the nearest group of people and got to work.
