None of them move. They aren’t afraid of me.
They’re testing me.
Let them.
Sheer ignorance and desperation spur me forward. I’m not afraid of them, either.
I focus on breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth. I feel strong—stronger than ever before. Wind courses through my fingers, tearing the roofs off the nearby buildings like they’re paper.
Dietan of Loegria. We will destroy you and everyone you love.
I glance behind me at the gap in the rubble where Marcus and Aren watch, faces etched with fear for me. Aren shakes her head and screams something I can’t hear over the roaring wind. The Kilandrar turn toward them, hissing, rising into the air—about to attack.
“No!” I shout, facing down the Kilandrar. “You will not touch them!”
I summon a gale so powerful, my feet begin to slide along the cobblestones. The Whisting encircles the Kilandrar. I trap them in the eye of my storm despite their attempts to push back with their own squall. Pieces of buildings tear away, and the air explodes with the sound of beams snapping and stone falling. The wall of debris behind me starts to blow away, large pieces breaking off and tumbling backward toward Loegria.
All I feel is the magic rushing out of me. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, except in my dreams. It’s pure, raw, elemental power—and I want more of it.
I let go. I give myself over to the Whisting inside me. My feet lift off the ground.
The Kilandrar fight furiously against the tornado entrapping them. They howl, growing more frenzied. They’ll break through soon—I can feel it.
But they won’t get past me.
Two rings of light appear on the bridge, circling the Kilandrar in thin, glowing lines. The wind carves a clean line around them. Then, with a high-pitched screech, the wind slices all the way through the cobblestones like a knife through butter.
With a groan, the entire section of the bridge falls into the chasm below. The Kilandrar plunge through the gap, followed by a wave of rubble. They screech and flail, cursing my name as the winds of the canyon engulf them, and they vanish from sight.
My vision goes dark.
In one breath, I’m floating above the bridge. The next, I’m on the battlefield, surrounded by corpses.
Then I’m back on the bridge again, my tempest ripping the overpass to pieces beneath my feet.
I’m consumed by a vision of the entire kingdom engulfed in shadow.
Back on the bridge where I’m losing control of the Whisting.It was never yours to control, screams a voice in my head. The bridge is crumbling. Soldiers are yelling. A voice cuts through the chaos.
The battlefield. Everyone I care about is dead on the ground.
“Dietan!”
My name—someone is calling my name. I almost forgot I have a name.
Is Dietan my name?
I turn toward the sound. A figure braces against the wind, arms up, shielding their face.
Her face.
Her beautiful face.
I know that face.
She’s on my side of the expanse, running toward me.
“Dietan!”
