A blinding cascade of ice erupted, shards exploding outward, snapping and splintering like the howl of a winter storm.
It surged from Calista’s outstretched hand, freezing the air itself into a crystalline wall that encased Osin.
Calista’s eyes burned with cold fury. She snarled through gritted teeth, her body trembling with the chaotic, untamed energy.
One of Ivan’s volatile spells, Elara realized.
Osin’s eyes widened as a sheen of frost climbed, scaling him in layers of glittering ice. His shadows loosened, and Elara gasped, air rushing into her lungs so fast it nearly knocked her off balance.
A shout rang out, cutting through as several Legionnaires broke from their defensive line, fire sparking in their palms, hurling flames at the ice and it splintered and hissed under the heat.
Elara’s gaze snapped downward, locking on the Wound of Light.
It lay just beyond her, its golden surface catching the fractured light from the flames. Her fingers twitched, the tips brushing the cold, frost-streaked stone as she stretched further, her body trembling with the effort.Please. Her thoughts screamed louder than the clamor around her.Please.
Osin’s snarl tore through the air as he broke free, a violent surge of darkness erupting around him.
He moved—a blur of wrath and power barreling toward her, but in that split-second—between the ice fracturing and his shadows reforming—Elara’s fingers brushed the blade, barely a touch.
It was enough.
A jolt of power snapped through her hand, shooting up her arm, a shockwave that ignited everything inside her. She screamed, the sound tearing from her throat, ripped free by the force of her terror.
Light erupted from her in a blinding shield. Jagged and wild, it channeled her fear into power—a field of erratic, pulsating light clashing violently against the tempest of darkness. It was not just a barrier; it was her scream given form, her terror given light—a vortex of frantic energy spun from the sheer force of her will to survive, to resist.
Osin stalked her shield, his glacial blue eyes burned into hers, rage twisting his features. Black seeped from his pupils, devouring the pale frost until his gaze became endless, hollow darkness.
Shadows slammed into the barrier, hammering it like fists. Again. And again. The light wavered under the force, shuddering with each blow. He didn’t stop. His lips curled into a snarl. Another surge. The barrier cracked, faint lines spidering across its surface.
“Fine,” he bit out. “The hard way, then.”
In a heartbeat, his shadows shot out, darting behind him—straight toward Calista.
Elara’s gaze collided with fierce emerald eyes, wide with defiance, anguish—a thousand unspoken things crammed into a single, agonizing second.
And then gone.
The light died as Osin’s shadows coiled around her, snapping her neck in a single, brutal twist.
A hollow ache split Elara’s chest, driving the air from her lungs. Then came the heat—white-hot rage—flooding her veins.
She moved on instinct.
A snarl tore from her throat as she shattered the barrier and lunged—only for shadows to snap shut around her wrist.
Osin laughed, a low, mocking sound. “Still so reckless. For all your supposed cleverness, you truly are a fool.” His power tightened, and Elara cried out as her wrist cracked.
“You never learn, do you? No matter how many times I take your memories away, you keep making the same mistakes.”
Elara’s grip on the blade trembled, and it pulsed in her hand, cold steel pressing into her palm as she strained forward, willing it to reach his throat, toend this.
Her memories—they hadn’t just slipped away, lost to some careless experiment. He’d taken them. Found her in the Void. Ripped them from her. The realization was ice in her veins, fury and helplessness twisting inside her. Her breath hitched as hot tears burned at the corners of her eyes, threatening to spill. She forced them back.
“Now,” he murmured, his voice soft, almost coaxing, “hand over the blade, and perhaps… I’ll permit you to keep your new memories. A fair bargain, wouldn’t you say?”
She blinked, his words sinking in, her pulse stuttering.
Why does he keep asking?
