The blinding silvery glow that surrounded my hands startled me. They should’ve glowed white. The distraction caused my hold on the force grappling for control to falter. A ball of silver light exploded from my palms, streaking through the dark street, igniting a path through the mountain town. Relief similar to a sneeze seized my chest at the expulsion.
The orb of steel flames smashed into the building behind the Elementals. The old brick constructing the antebellum structure rattled from the impact. A thundering boom echoed, causing the ground to rumble.
All I could do was shift my stare from my hands to the building. Debris crumbled and skittered to the concrete in the aftermath of my unintentional attack. My jaw hung openin shock as I quickly tried to process what in the fuck just happened. Maybe my light magic was evolving? I had no clue.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to ponder the event as a handful of pissed-off Elementals now saw me as an aggressor. Shaking out of my stupor, I squared my shoulders, spotting their silhouettes closing in on me.
Small orange flames glowed in one Elemental’s palms while a strong breeze picked up out of nowhere and began to whip around me in warning. Floating shadowed orbs levitated from the ground near them, bouncing in preparation to launch as weapons. Rocks. Bricks.
I pulled a dagger from my weapons belt and a knife from my sleeve, feeling highly unprepared for this fight. Didn’t matter. I could handle this.
I hadn’t come here to fight, but I wouldn’t back down from one. Orion. Orion was the goal, and I wasn’t leaving until I got the answers I had come for.
“Shit. I didn’t mean—” I stuttered as the Elementals closed in.
“Nah. You’re no different than the others,” a man said just before hurtling a stream of flames at my face.
I bent backward, arching nearly into a backbend. The flames sailed inches above my nose, the heat kissing my skin. Rising, I came face to face with a black-haired woman with eyes that glowed cerulean, hungry for my death. Moisture droplets began to run along the golden currents on my arms from sweat. She snatched a dagger from her waist.
Not hesitating, I kicked her ankles. She tried to dodge the blow but was too slow. In her stumble, I stepped into her space and sliced the blue-sigiled knife across her throat—the fastest and surest place to kill.
The woman’s eyes widened and then glossed over before she faltered, her knees crumpling.
The breeze swirled into a fierce vortex, throwing my balance off. I was knocked off-kilter, but I forced myself to stay intent on the Elementals closing in. An orange blur that could only be an Elemental blade zipped through the air toward me.
On reflex, I knocked it away with my dagger, keeping it from plunging into my chest. Blue and orange clashed against one another. The Elemental vortex carried the blade away in its winds.
Another fiery streak flew toward me. I dropped to a knee and rolled beneath it. When I rose to my knees, I found myself being snatched to my feet by a pair of hands. A sharp pain ricocheted through my ribs from a fist jabbing into my side in search of my liver.
In retaliation, I stabbed my knife in between my attacker’s ribs. He looked into my eyes as I twisted the blade in deeper, pulling him closer.
“I only wanted to talk,” I murmured into his ear before pushing him away to drop to the ground.
The victory was short-lived.
Another Elemental punched my temple, knocking my mind loose. My brain jarred, and I blocked my face with one arm and my midsection with the other on instinct. Stumbling, I let my Kinetic power ignite through my veins, illuminating at its full force in the darkness.
I tossed my arm out before me. The white light from my Kinetic power blinded the dark town square, drowning it out with an excessive beacon that swallowed the night.
The Elemental cried and jumped back, jerking his head to the side and covering his eyes with his hands.
I didn’t waste the chance to seize the upper hand. With the dagger coated in blood from the first Elemental, I plunged my blade into the man’s stomach, letting the black crystal do its job of poisoning his bloodstream.
Warmth licked the back of my neck, heating up by the second. The burn singed beneath the skin, sinking in deep.
“Shit!” I shouted, fighting off the urge to fall to my knees. I snatched another knife hidden in my sleeve, spun around, and threw it at the fire Elemental behind me. The light from my hand followed my spin, blinding the man trying to set me ablaze.
The knife missed my target. Not surprising since I’d thrown the blade haphazardly while off-balance.
The Elemental easily dodged it with a swift duck of his head. His anger was palpable in his energy, the rage igniting his eyes.
I wasn’t an offensive fighter; I preferred to see what my opponent would do. It allowed me more control to observe and analyze. Given the nature of my magic, I believed that tactic had kept me alive this long.
Digging deep, I clutched onto my strength, reminding myself I’d been through a lot in training and past missions.
I’ll heal from the burns. Hang on for three…two…one…
Believing he had me incapacitated with his element, he charged me to finish me off physically.
