Trembling took hold of my upper body as I held on to the sphere I’d created; its magic too volatile to safely maintain. It felt like I was trying to contain the sun itself within my grasp, its heat licking my skin as though it wanted to carve its way through me. Silvery black scales danced up my arms as the sphere grew, protecting me from my own power, which I was grateful for because Tharion had checked out long ago.
At the moment, he lay down by the entrance of the sanctuary, his eyes closed. A small rumbling noise suddenly came out of him. Snoring.
WTF. Was he actually sleeping?!
Concentrate.My mind interjected, reminding me of the small craters my prior attempts had left through the cave. The evidence of my failure.
“Concentrate!” Asher echoed from the other end when I fell to my knees, struggling to keep the power between my shaking hands.
It was a simple ball born from my energy. That was all. I wasn’t trying to move mountains, only hold my magic in the form of a sphere, but even then, its force seemed stronger than anything I could ever hope to tame. It might as well be a supernova.
“Aaah!!!”
The scream scorched my vocal cords as something seemed to snap inside me, and the golden sphere escaped my grasp, shooting through the space like a cannonball. Pain blinded me, but it instantly took a back seat when the power exploded against a wall, sending splintered rock and debris towards Asher. Luckily, he was far enough away that he had time to get out of its path.
Glancing down, I caught my stomach turning red and purple… I had literally ripped my insides open from the effort.
“Are you alright?” Asher yelled from the other side, his voice echoing in the large cave.
“Yeah,” I croaked, putting one hand on the ground to hold me, and wrapping a shaking arm around my torso.
Closing my eyes, I took a slow, measured breath, flinching with the pain the action elicited. My healing soon stirred, coming to the surface while enhanced by my Devenish magic until the agony eased—only a dull ache left.
“It’s alright, Brother. You can always try again.” Asher’s voice was filled with sympathy and patience, one I didn’t think I had.
The internal injuries and bruising finally vanished, but my frustration grew. I was never going to beat Raithian like this, andIhadto stop him. That was on me.
Fuck.
Fuck!
“FUCK!!” My fists slammed against the ground, a wave of anger that I didn’t recognize within myself releasing from my core. A hatred so deep that threatened to consume me, one that didn’t belong in my heart.
Except, what came out of me wasn’t a wave of emotion… It was raw power.
The ring of golden energy exploded out of me when my fists hit the earth, sweeping over the space, and taking everything in its path.
“Asher!” I called, eyes widening, but it was too late.
My magic crashed against him, sending him flying towards the jagged, rock wall behind him. Time seemed to stop as I jumped to my feet and shot towards him, only one thought rushing through my mind.
“Save him!”
Tharion’s scaly hand caught Asher an instant before his body could slam against the protruding blades of rock and gently sitting him to the ground.
I guess he wasn’t sleeping after all.
The next instant, I reached him.
Wanting to make sure my brother was okay, I took a step forwards, but Asher scrambled back…awayfrom me. Shock, confusion, and fear captured him as his eyes fell to my lower body.
Following his gaze, the air was sucked out of my lungs. Golden smoke swirled around me, slowly drifting away to reveal my legs and feet. Horrified, my head whipped back to find that in my desperation to get to Asher, I had disappeared into magical fog, erasing the entire length of the sanctuary, just to reappear a split second later all the way on the other side... in front of him.
Just like the Warlock King could do.
“I’m sorry,” I croaked, swallowing hard and tentatively lowering myself to the floor because I didn’t trust my legs to keep me upright.
“No, I—”
