“I have the advantage here,” Lucenna goaded. “Show me what you’ll do.”
Dyna could only run and dodge as she flung Essence Blasts to meet each attack. Their spells clashed, making the ground tremble at her feet.
“You have more power,” she panted, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“There will always be someone more powerful than you,” Lucenna said. “No matter how much you train, there will be someone faster and stronger. Do you remember what I once told you? What is the alternative to strength?”
Dyna couldn’t remember what Lucenna was referring to. Streaks of purple lightning came for her. She thrust out her arms in the formation of a shield spell she hadn’t properly mastered. The spell hit, and she dropped with a pained gasp. She’d seen Lucenna kill with lightning. This attack was mild, but the pain stole her breath as her body spasmed. She clutched at her throbbing chest as smoke wafted from her singed clothes.
“If you don’t know the answer, then I don’t know if there is any hope for you.”
Dyna spat out a wad of blood as she rolled over. “I don’t understand.”
“Yes, you truly don’t,” Lucenna said somberly as she approached.
“What is the point of all this? Making me fight you in a battle I clearly can’t win for a lesson to teach me what? That I can’t trust you?”
“This was never about me.” Lucenna stopped in front of her. “It’s about you, Dyna. You’re not here for your sister. You’re not here for North Star. You’re not even here for revenge. Admit it.”
Fury ravaged through Dyna’s body. Green spilled from her in droves, flooding the ground in a misty fog. “You know nothing.”
“It’s you who knows nothing because you refuse to acknowledge it.” Lucenna’s white hair fluttered with the wind churning around her. “Tell me the truth, Dyna. Why are you here?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. The answer hovered on the tip of her tongue. A truth she didn’t want to admit. It was a black abyss that waited to embrace her each night. At that moment, she despised Lucenna for making her see it.
“Stop this,” Dyna said, past anger and hate. She shoved Lucenna back with a discharge of power. “I’m finished.”
Fury flashed in Lucenna’s eyes, teeth bearing around her hissed words. “We are not finished until you answer me!”
The sky darkened, and storm clouds closed in. Thunder cracked in the distance. Lucenna’s power pressed against Dyna, demanding and merciless. It tore at the edges of her stability, breaking down the stronghold she’d hidden in. Essence slipped through her fingers as the barrier fell back into place.
“Why are you going to Mount Ida?”
Legs trembling, Dyna staggered back. “I left to destroy the Shadow. It killed my family and it will come for my sister next if I don’t stop it.”
“All I hear are excuses. Pretty lies. We would like to think we’re noble and selfless. The truth is, we’re all selfish. We all want things.” Lucenna motioned at the men who fought against their magical restraints. “Even those three, who would do anything to protect you. They also have selfish reasons for being on this journey.”
Dyna’s gaze flickered to them. Even with his arms clasped at his sides, Rawn somehow moved his hand enough to work on freeing his enchanted sword from its scabbard. His fingers bleed as he nudged the blade out inch by inch. He was going to cut through the spell soon.
Lucenna didn’t notice as she continued circling. “While you may appear to be perfect, you’re not. So, why are you here, Dyna? Perhaps you left to leave it all behind and abandoned the village to die.”
“No!”
“Then why?”
Her chest heaved with shuddering breaths. “I—I—”
The Shadow flashed through her memories. Thane’s empty face. Her father’s screams echoed in her ears as she ran and ran from it all.
Dyna stumbled away, but purple light snatched her off the ground and whipped her around. She had nowhere to look but into those two glowing points. Her body seized with panic and the desperate need to escape, but there was no place to hide. Her shell had cracked and peeled away.
“Why?” Lucenna shouted in her face. “Tell me why!”
“I’M AFRAID!” Dyna’s scream rang in the forest. The purple bindings vanished. She collapsed on her hands and knees, shuddering as she faced the truth.
When she had taken the first step outside of her village to find an impossible place, she knew it would be dangerous and difficult. She had told herself it was to save her sister from the fate of her brother and parents.
But she left to save herself.
