“Ellene,” Jayme whispered. “Can you take us up to the treetops? It hasn’t seen us yet, maybe we can avoid it entirely.”
Its hulking head turned slowly. Two orbs, like polished stone, stared right at Vi. A shot of energy ran straight up her spine.
“It saw me,” she breathed, panic flooding her.
“How do you—” Jayme never finished her thought. The beast turned, charging right for them. “Ellene, we have to go!”
Jayme lunged for Ellene in an attempt to get her moving. Vi watched as the girl buried her hands in her hair. She knew what was coming next—Ellene’s magic would act on instinct to protect her. A stone shell, like a turtle’s carapace, shot up from the ground around her. Jayme was close enough that she was encased in it as well.
But Vi… she’d been two steps too far away, and now she was alone with the charging Noru.
“Let me out!” Jayme’s muffled shouts could be heard.
“Mother, mother,” Ellene cried. If it were possible, the rock seemed to thicken. The voices vanished entirely.
Vi’s eyes turned back to the still charging Noru.
This was how she was going to die. That was the prevailing thought that ran through Vi’s brain, muffling everything else except for her heartbeat. Why was her heartbeat so loud? She couldn’t hear the snapping of wood or the snarls of the beast. All she could hear was the sound of her own vital signs. Well, at least as long as she heard that, she knew she was alive.
And if she was alive, she’d do everything in her power to stay that way.
Turning, Vi began to run. There was no way she could outpace a noru, so she’d have to try to outsmart it. Vi slid, gripping a tree root to swing into a shaded alcove at the base of the tree. She pressed her back into it, hoping to confuse the maddened animal and hide from it.
The tree rumbled, bark snapping, as the beast ran head-first into its trunk. Vi bit back a scream. The noru roared. Vi curled her legs, digging the balls of her feet into the earth, seeking some purchase underneath the thick covering of leaves. Her toes slammed into a root and her thighs wrapped under her chest, exploding with power as she began running again.
Fire. She had to make fire. Surely they were close enough now for the watchers to see a warning.
Her side burned from her heavy breathing; her knees ached. The only thing keeping her moving was the knowledge that if she stopped she would be a snack for the giant cat trying to kill her. Darting between the trees, trying to out-nimble the large beast, Vi swung in a wide arc, trying to dredge up her spark in the process.
A paw, twice her size, came out of nowhere. Vi dodged inward, narrowly avoiding the claws, but was batted across the jungle like a toy. Her body slammed into another tree and stars exploded behind her eyes for the second time in one day. Vi fell limply to the ground, trying to push herself up as the creature stalked closer.
Get up. She had to get up. She was the daughter of Aldrik and Vhalla Solaris—cut from a cloth that couldn’t be sheared so easily. Even if the giant saber-sized claws were about to prove her wrong.
“Get up!” Vi cried. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She would die before ever having the chance to live with her family—without ever finding her true home.
The noru’s breath was hot on her face as it leaned down. A row of razor-sharp teeth glinted. The cat reared back, and dove in to eat her whole.
Vi screamed, and fire exploded from her.
Like a sailor watching a lifeline slip over the deck-rail, Vi watched as her control over the magic escaped her hands. Just as Ellene’s magic had sprung forth to craft a shell to protect her, so did Vi’s. Except hers was an inferno. Flames spread across the ground, fed by her magic and uncontrolled.
Too much. She had to get control of it. Her mind was frozen, unable to do anything but look on in horror as her magic took over.
She felt like she could burn the world down if she wasn’t careful.
Vi continued to fight to stand, the ground beneath her ash and barren already. Her clothes had burned off entirely, as they had the last time, and the only thing she saw was white-hot flames.
Withdraw, withdraw, her mind urged in panic, mirroring her uncle’s words. She would hurt her friends if she didn’t. But the fire was too big. It had spread too far, too fast, and was beyond her control now. There was too much magic.
There were screams—distinctly animal. Hopefully Ellene’s rocky shield protected her from the blaze. Vi curled into a ball, holding herself, trying to make herself as small as possible.
Find the void.Find the void, she chanted in her mind. Vi closed her eyes, but there was no darkness. Instead there was only light, and the unstoppable tide of her magic. She felt every expanse of flame, as though it was a part of her. It filled her lungs and seared in her ears, as though trying to lick her mind itself.
The screams cut through to her. How was the animal still alive? Or was it perhaps Ellene and Jayme?
Vi’s head jerked up and she looked around frantically. But it was the same as behind her eyes. It was as though she had been dropped into the sun itself.
Her friends, confidants, the two true allies she had. She would kill them with her own hands. Vi looked down, already seeing their invisible blood staining her skin.
