If anything, he had helped me cover my flames from the others once we found each other again. Wouldn’t a temptation demon try to lure me into hurting them?
Or was the plan even more complex than that? What if he wanted me to embrace my powers so my friends would abandon me? That way, he’d be able to feed off of my magic without anyone knowing…
No, it seemed too far-fetched… especially since most of them seemed to accept my mage abilities.
If I was a temptation demon, what would I aim for?
He came to an abrupt stop and my eyes widened. I hadn’t said anything out loud, had I?
His head turned slightly, but his eyes weren’t on me. Then, smoothly, he side-stepped as an ice shard came flying, shattering against a nearby tree.
“Huh?” Mey sounded confused.
“Mages,” Nate whispered low as we all turned towards the direction the ice came from.
A group of three slowly stalked closer. Two men and one woman, all dressed in fancy robes. The woman and one of the men wore vivid blue colors, from top to toe. The third had a green robe with yellow markings swirling around it.
“Who are you?” the man in blue asked, perhaps he was the leader of the group. “What are you doing out here?”
“We’re runaways,” I said, their eyes turning towards me with haste. “We’ve got powers too, but we’ve been forced to suppress them until now.”
They exchanged looks with each other.
“You’re from the other side of the border?” the woman asked, looking straight at me.
“Yes…” I quickly glanced at Malakai, we hadn’t really talked about what I was supposed to tell them and not.
“Show us,” the man in green hissed.
I shrugged a bit, nerves settling in, before I stretched my hands out.
Nothing.
“Wait… I need to warm up,” I sighed.
Mey stepped forward, swirling a little water droplet in her hand. The mages caught the movement and nodded slowly, but didn’t utter a word, merely glancing back at me, waiting.
Shit.
I never knew I’d have performance anxiety for using my flames. My skin prickled, as I felt Malakai’s gaze turn to me.
“You better show them before I give you a reason to,” he threatened, a taunting smile playing at his lips.
I glared at him, imagining how it felt when I threw a fireball at him. My fingers began burning slightly.
Relief struck me, as I glanced over at the mages again, but their stares were locked on my hands, eyes widen.
Malakai acknowledged it, as he stalked closer to me. Slowly, he leaned closer to me, his breath stroked my earlobe. “Good girl.”
I staggered backwards, but my hands flashed, as flames erupted around them. The mages gasped in response, snapping me out of my embarrassment.
“She’s—” the woman stammered, looking over at her fellowmages.
The man in the middle stepped forward, his grey eyes lingered on my hands, before they slid up to meet with my gaze. His black tousled hair poked out of his blue hood.
“Fire mage,” he said calmly, once he stood in front of me. “What is your name?”
“Ethalyn,” I answered, straightening myself. “You?”
