The shouts of the guards arose behind her, Dav leading them in their pursuit, but Aya pressed on, reaching deep intoher well as she called as much power forward as she could.
Every second she had spent waiting, every moment she had leaned into that control Galda had been trying to drill into her since she was eight years old, every ounce of power she had forced herself not to use—she let it free now.
Her breath punched from her as she focused that power down, through the thick cement walls, through the floors caked with the blood of prisoners who had been tortured here before being shipped to Kakos—the floors where the Vaguer now walked, guided by the man who had stolen her power first.
Down, down, down, to the very bedrock itself.
Aya channeled her Terra affinity into the earth as she ran, her path creating a jagged trail miles below.
It was fitting, perhaps, that this was how she should pay homage to her father.
She ran, and she pushed, and she ran.
The building began to tremble.
The shouts of the guards transformed into cries of fear as the ground shook beneath their feet. And still, Aya ran, dodging a falling piece of cement as she raced through the heart of the citadel. She threw a quick glance over her shoulder to see Dav and the guards scatter to avoid the debris.
Keep going, mi couera.Her father’s voice was a whisper in her ear as she sprinted, her gaze fixed on the soft light from the open double doors that grew closer and closer.
The guards standing just inside the fortress lowered their swords as the building began to shake in earnest. They glanced up, their cries of terror lost to the sound of cement crashing to the floor just before them.
Another piece of the inner citadel wall fell.
Another.
Another.
The guards abandoned their sentry and ran for the doors as the building swayed beneath Aya’s boots. She scrambled tokeep purchase as the floor buckled, but she did not release the flow of power she kept channeled into the earth.
She was so close. She could see the clearing beyond the doors, a lone figure and wolf sprinting across it.
The walls groaned, as if resigned to their fate.
Behind her, Dav let out a vicious swear.
Aya put on a final burst of speed, her lungs aching as she threw herself through the doors, her boots hitting the cobbles of the square just as an almightycrackricocheted through the air.
She saw Will freeze, his sword buried in the stomach of one of the escaping Kakos guards. Terror clouded his face as the ground lurched, sending them both stumbling.
“Aya!”
His scream was lost to the roar of collapsing stone as Aya brought the citadel down.
***
Will froze as a cloud of dust rushed toward him, enveloping Aya entirely.
No.
No.
No.
He didn’t realize he was saying the word aloud until he tasted the soot on his tongue. Will stumbled forward a step, his eyes burning as the citadel continued to crumble.
He couldn’t lose her.
He couldn’t lose her.
