“Rue?” asked Korin. She jumped up as the aftershocks downgraded to gentle vibrations. “Are you okay?”
“No,” I whispered. “It cannot be.” I looked around wildly. Sonora’s brow furrowed in concern. “Give me a minute.”
Korin backed up and walked over to Sonora.
Korin was the Crimson Wolf. She had the tattoo, the nickname, and the land magic to redirect Berine supplies. But she was barely of age, hardly a teenager. If I was to live, if I was to have a chance at a future, I had to kill her. I reached for my dagger, my fingers curling around the familiar hilt. I could make it quick and portal immediately back to Haluma.
My body crept toward the cliff of hyperventilating. My deepest values held my actions in a chokehold, refusing to align with the logic of my choices.
The familiar iron cage of entrapment closed in. Like the stone room I was “disciplined” in all those years ago. Like the steel cell they locked me in as an orphan. Like the gilded bars that detained my deepest fears. I closed my eyes, sipping shallow breaths of air.
How could I live with myself if I murdered her? She reminded me of Delah. She reminded me ofme. Or at least the me I could have been, that I would have hoped to become. It wasn’t her fault she was born with this magic.
But if I didn’t, I would be a traitor to Haluma. Did I even have a choice?
“Rue? Are you okay? Can I get you some water?” This was Sonora now. I nodded, even though I could pull water out of the air. It would buy me some time.
I have always worked twice as hard to be the best soldier, to prove myself. Twice as hard to emerge at the top for the chance to steer the ship of my future. I survived my father. I survived as an orphan. I survived the training to become the Scourge.
My mind oscillated between my white-knuckled past and my quickly crumbling future. I knew what awaited Korin if I brought her back to Haluma. I couldn’t do that to her. I couldn’t be the weapon that stole her light.
I couldn’t do it.
I released my hold on the hilt. My mind stumbled through this new predicament. I would be committing treason. The Good King would hunt me, would drain me. And if Delah’s words held any merit, he would do it with the very drug that destroyed my parents and my life.
I could trade my soul to become a dreki and gain significant power. But power was never my goal. If I killed Korin, I’d be trading my soul in a different way—one I wouldn’t recover from.
King Nolan had faith in me, and I would let him down. That realization hurt the most. Yet, the cost of betraying myself was something I wasn’t willing to pay. Never again. Resolve hardened within me even as a piece of me died.
A flash of black caught in my periphery. I looked up just in time to see the last of the scales clicking into place. Two drekis emerged from the trees, prowling in our direction. I immediately recognized Wes and Belham. I nodded toward them, but they ignored me. Alarm heightened my senses.
“Guys.” I gestured toward Sonora and Korin, my voice trembling. “Get away from here. Now!”
Korin stared at me in confusion and then her attention pulled swiftly away, searching the oncoming enemy, freezing atthe sight of the drekis. Their eyes held a hypnotic quality that stunned most people for a few seconds.
Belham’s eyes darted to me in surprise, quickly morphing into revulsion. “I knew you were weak. I didn’t expect you to betray your own, though. Nolan was wise to do what he did, he must have known.”
I scrambled to my feet, bolting toward them. Wes lunged at the same time. I summoned my blade and deflected his as it swung through the air in a swift downward arc. Korin and Sonora were outfitted with nothing more than daggers. Their defenses meager against the power of the drekis.
Jagged rocks exploded out of the earth all around us. I hoped it wasn’t Korin, or we would be carrying her out of the forest unconscious.
Belham’s stinger lengthened from his extended hand into an angry wayward claw. His attention focused solely on Korin.They knew.I discharged my magic to fortify an encasement around Korin and Sonora, willing the barrier of thick ice to become impenetrable.
I fragmented my power between myself and Korin, never entertaining the idea that my connection to these dreki could be the reason harm befell them. Belham shrieked as he witnessed the barrier, understanding the impotence of his power against my affinity. His stinger dripped with anticipation, salivating for its prey. Wes needed to touch his victim to incite hallucinations, or remove memories.
My ice sword cut through the air in Wes’s direction. His movements came swift, closing the space between us. He drew his blade and lunged. Flecks of gold reflected off the shards of ice that scattered in the air with every hit and deflection.
In the midst of the battle, a nagging thought burst forth: how did they know where I’d be? A wave of dizziness enveloped me.I licked chapped lips with a dry tongue. My depletion demanded repayment.
Korin yelled in my direction but her words fell unregistered, her voice muffled by the ice encasing her. Wes steadily pushed me backward. Awareness withered as I began fighting primarily from muscle memory rather than conscious thought. Failing to replenish my magic, I faltered.
“Get over here! Get closer to us!” Korin’s voice broke through the melee. I ducked, narrowly missing Wes’s blade. I swung my leg out, but he dodged it just as easily. We had been sparring partners for years, both knowing each other’s moves and defenses. Deftly, I yanked out a dagger and threw it at him. He pivoted, but not before it lodged into his shoulder. He hissed at me as he paused to pull it out. It barely pierced through his scales.
Gifted precious seconds, I rushed toward the ice barrier. Sonora motioned purposefully with her hand. A thrum rippled through the air before a thunderous sound brought me to my knees. The land rapidly cracked, violently separating. The deafening sound of rocks breaking accompanied plumes of dirt that exploded into the morning air, obscuring the landscape in a thick haze.
Belham jumped, forced to retreat from the onslaught of cracked earth and protruding boulders. Monoliths angled toward his body, seething in their desire to impale. The calm morning fog now displaced with the murkiness of dust and disturbed earth.
A chasm carved a circle around Wes and Belham, stranding them upon a shrinking island. They were unable to cross the ravine Sonora summoned. My gaze locked on Belham. His responding smile, imbued with a disturbed knowing, made me falter.
