She thought she was going at an acceptable pace.Speed up! He wanted to shout, but he knew he’d be toolate.
* * *
The ringing noiseemitting from the rocks increased in strength, and Angelique winced in pain. The sound seemed to build up pressure in her head and made her earsache.
Whatis—
Savagely,somethingripped Angelique’s magic fromher.
She lost all control as her magic gushed from her like white waterrapids.
“No! Stop!” Angelique struggled to regain control over her wild magic, but something—the wretched stones most likely—ruthlessly yanked on her magic with enough force to make her physicallystumble.
Her entire body ached, and her skin stung from the sheer volume of magic she was being forced tochannel.
“Stop it!” Angelique shouted. A cry caught in her throat, and her hands blessedly turned numb as her magic swirled around her, rapidly filling thegorge.
The hateful crystals were now glowing a deep emerald color as they relentlessly dragged more magic from the depths of her soul where she had hiddenit.
It was a struggle to stand. The pressure of magic escaping her grasp almost forced Angelique to herknees.
She was aware her magic was spilling over the sides of the gorge and flowing out in a circle, but she found no joy at thesign.
I would have preferred to have been able to just barely fillit!
Tired, Angelique stopped fighting the unyielding pull on her magic and focused instead on trying tosurvivethe great volume of magic being flushed fromher.
Already, her silver magic had reached the base of the nearest mountain and was starting to crawl up it. On the eastern side, it surged across the desert, wild and untamable in its rawform.
She watched it, almost resentful as it rolled over golden dunes and made the area so bright she had to squint to seeanything.
I’ve seen my magic before, obviously, but this is the first time I’m seeing this much of it.She curled her hands into fists.I hate it. It might look beautiful, but that’s just a facade. There’s no way you can dress up killing in any kind of package to make it acceptable. My magic will never be anything butugly.
She scanned the golden desert as her magicstillrushed forth—making her uneasy. A headache roared in her temples, and the ache was back in her hands, but Angelique turned numb when she saw where her magic washeaded.
The desert village clustered around the oasis was in the path of her rampagingmagic.
Based on the force from which it still was flowing, her power wasn’t going to stop anytimesoon.
Her magic, in its rawest, unfiltered form, was going to hit thevillage.
It will killeveryone.
* * *
Evariste could seethe moment Angelique saw the village of Izmar. She stiffened, and her entire body went still despite the obvious discomfort she was experiencing thanks to thestones.
Whatever you are thinking—don’t.
Evariste had promised her that her magic, in this form, couldn’t hurt anyone, but obviously she didn’t believehim.
“She’ll have to get better at control,” Clovicus said, oblivious to the danger Evariste’s stupid apprentice was about to put herself in. “To pass the evaluation, she needs to be able to do this herself. But at least now she’ll get to see her limits, even if it will be uncomfortable toexperience.”
“Her magic is going to pass Izmar village,” Enchantress Lovelana nervously said. “Is it safe for it to flood thevillage?”
“Of course.” Clovicus didn’t bother to hide the scoff in hisvoice.
“You sure about that?” Enchanter Lazareasked.
