Irolled onto my back and panted, staring up at the ceiling as my vision came back. The world was blurry and out of focus. Everything felt sore, every bone and muscle now brittle and tender. When the roaring of blood in my ears calmed, I could finally hear the voices.
“Nox, can you hear me?”
“Holy Fates. What just happened?”
“Here, drink this. Please, Nox.” Silas held the back of my neck and pressed a vial to my lips, and I struggled to swallow the contents. Warm liquid rushed down my throat. “Carnation, fleawort, and ginger—for pain relief and strengthening,” he said in his panicked voice.
My head fell back on the ground with a thud. I groaned and blinked several times, trying to orient myself when all I felt was numb.
“It—it took away my magic,” I finally rasped. My lips were dry, and my insides felt like they were about to break off.
And my dragon wasgone.
I’d experienced magic suppression before. Magic only existed within the borders of the Veridian Empire, so once you left the boundaries, it disappeared. When I traveled to Mysthelm, it was asif someone had taken my magic and shoved it inside of a box, leaving a couple of holes to breathe so it didn’t suffocate but was entirely inaccessible.
But this fatesprig…
This didn’t just stuff my dragon half in a box. Thisannihilatedit.
My breaths came out quick as I clutched my hair, panic overwhelming me.
What had I done?
It wasgone, my magic was gone—I couldn’t feel it, not a single spark.
This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be real. I didn’t know how to live without my dragon half—the other part of me, my missing piece.
I staggered to my feet and shoved the chair out of my way, clawing at veins that had turned dark green. I crashed into the work table. I was blind, raging, unable to think straight as I lunged for any potion or herb Silas kept out.
“Nox, stop!” a distant voice said. Tessa, maybe. I didn’t care.
Fingers trembling, I dropped the first potion bottle I could find. It crashed to the table and shattered into a hundred pieces. I gripped the edge of the wood to fight off another wave of nausea.
“Nox, please, sit down—I can find something to help, if you’ll simply tell me what—” A hand landed on my arm as Silas spoke, and I wrenched myself free. The motion made me lose my balance. I fell to the floor and landed on my knees.
My shoulders sagged as my chest heaved. It was like I couldn’t get enough air. Like I couldn’t do anything to fill the void my magic had left.
It hurt. Everything hurt.
Thiswas what Scarven had put countless innocent people through.
“Was that Nox I heard? What’s—” A familiar voice stopped itself at the entrance, but I didn’t bother to turn. Footsteps and voices drew nearer until Everett sank to the floor infront of me. Those green and gray eyes stared back, dark forehead scrunched in concern.
“You idiot,” he said quietly. “Did you take it? The fatesprig?”
I couldn’t move. All I could do was blink slowly in response.
“Did it make your veins turn a different color?” he prompted.
I swallowed, nails scraping down my throat. “Yes,” I croaked. “Green.”
“Was it like it killed your magic?”
I nodded, unable to say the words.
To my surprise, he lookedrelieved. “It’s not permanent,” he said. “Are you listening, Nox? Your magic will come back. The fatesprig just needs to get out of your system.”
It’s not permanent.
