With a scream that shattered the world, all four elements exploded from her in a cataclysmic rush of power. The ground beneath them and the trees in the jungle beyond shook, making everyone but Isla lose their balance and fall backward. The earth ripped apart with a wildboom, creating fissures large enough to swallow her companions whole. Isla watched distantly as Kai and Jade tumbled into a crack with desperate shrieks, their hands grabbing at the slippery sand. Maybe some part of Isla knew they needed help, but the elements coursing through her were trying to fill the gaps of her brokenness, making it so she felt no pain. No suffering.
Nothing at all.
She was a weapon of fire and ice, of breath and bones.
The wind and waves behind her worked as one, forming a cyclone of solid water that whipped its way across the beach. Rynn managed to dive to the side while Aidan got caught in its vortex. He choked and sputtered and clutched at his throat, water pouring into every pore of his body.
Isla heard her name, heard the pleas for mercy. But she was not done.
Her fire raged against her skin, its sights set on Celesine. Isla strode to the spirit witch, who was wise enough to show fear as her shadows fell away from Arden and fashioned a shield around her small body. Arden crumpled to the sand in a lifeless heap. That all-consuming pain rushed back, and Isla let out another cry of anguish. Her flames burst from her hands, her mouth, her eyes. They shot at Celesine, replacing her walls of shadows with pillars of dancing orange and red fire.
Celesine shouted as her protective darkness turned against her, licking at her with all of the sorrow inside of Isla. The fire grew and attacked the side of Celesine’s smooth face, and she released a wild howl of pain.
Isla heard the shouts of those behind her who were still caught in the maelstrom of her elements, but the power urged her to finish what she’d started.
Until a soft, tender voice breached her mind.
“Isla, sweet girl, you’ve got to stop. You’re going to kill your friends.”
Her head snapped a few feet away from Celesine to where her father stood, bound with ropes but no longer gagged. He’d managed to shove the cloth away from his mouth and was calling to her. His puffy, red eyes mirrored the torment in hers.
She cocked her head and stared at him.
“Look what you’re doing, Isla. You’re losing yourself.Hewouldn’t want this for you. Your mother wouldn’t want this.” Isla involuntarily took a step toward him. “You’re my little girl. Please come back to me,” he whispered, the wind bringing the words to her ears and caressing her cheek like a soft kiss.
Isla closed her eyes and concentrated on his voice, pushing through the heady thrum that craved annihilation. Memories flitted against her eyelids, moments of a family stolen from time. She and Arden gathered in Mama and Papa’s laps around a fire, drinking apple cider and burrowing under blankets. Arden chasing her through the trees with the boys, their laughter echoing among the fresh-fallen snow. His sparkling green eyes, twins of her own, wrinkling with joy as she unwrapped the dagger he had gifted her. Snowball fights and archery competitions, dice games and late-night swims in the shallows. Smiles and tears and hugs and angry words and forgiveness with open arms.
The elements slowly found their way back to her. The deafening rage gave way to silent heartache as they coiled themselves beneath her flesh. The water released Aidan from its hold. Kai and Jade hoisted their bodies back to solid ground as the earth weaved together and stilled once more.
Her fire would not listen, however; it continued preying on the spirit witch, dancing and striking at her exposed skin. With a roar of frustration, Celesine backed away from the flames and disappeared into a cloud of dark purple smoke.
She would probably be back. Isla didn’t care.
She walked numbly to Arden’s body. Her father knelt in the sand, his hands still bound. Tears tracked down his wrinkled cheeks as Isla took the Dagger of Volnus and cut through the rope. She’d only ever seen her papa cry once before: the day her mother was laid to rest.
He reached for her and bundled her against him, both of their hands finding Arden’s limp fingers and taking hold. As they sat there and let their tears mingle in the sand, Isla wished she could plunge herself into the depths of the sea and let it carry her away.
“Isla, love,” Sebastian grunted in pain somewhere behind her. “She’ll be back. I can feel her. You should get your father to safety.”
Isla’s mind slowly wrapped around his warning, her dampened senses trying to spark to life again. She had to snap out of this, had to be strong for her last living relative. She could shoulder the weight of this grief for a few moments more to keep her father safe and end this once and for all.
“Aidan,” she said hollowly as she squeezed her father’s hand and stared down at her brother, memorizing his freckles.
“Yes, little island?” His deep voice was soft and broken. She felt more than saw Aidan move toward them, sensing his footsteps through the earth.
“Take my father somewhere. Anywhere. I don’t care, just get him away from here.”
Her papa grabbed at her arm as Aidan approached. “Isla, don’t you dare think for one second that I’m leaving you here. I won’t lose my baby boy,”—his voice broke—“andgirl in one day. I’m staying with you.”
She lifted her father’s hand to her lips and kissed his palm. “And I can’t lose you, either. I love you, Papa.” She nodded to Aidan, who gently grasped his other arm and tried to heave him to his feet.
“No!” he shouted angrily, diving back to Arden’s body. “I’m not leaving. I don’t care what that witch does, my place is here. With you. With my children.” He clutched the back of Arden’s neck, bringing the body to his lap and weeping into Arden’s chest.
A sweet, melodic sound whispered in the back of Isla’s mind. It reminded her of Kai. Phantom ribbons unfurled and extended from her mind through the air, reaching for her father. Isla knew instantly what she should do, the intuition of her new powers showing her the way. She didn’t think a person could break any more than she already had, but as she wrapped those ribbons around her father’s mind, bending his will to her own, she splintered apart completely.
“Take him,” she instructed Aidan, and her father complied with a dazed expression.
As she watched them rush to the tree line of the jungle, a moan sounded from behind her. Turning around, she saw Sebastian lying on the ground, his face as white as the sand and his eyes bloodshot. His hand was glued to his side, blood oozing between his fingers.
