I’ve learned a lot in just a single day, though. Mostly, I learned that without Infusions, I’m going to die. With Infusions, I’ll probably die three seconds later.
Stormbringers, or at least Rurik and Erik, are just too damned fast. Every time I thought I had them, they’d slip out of reach, my blade passing so close they could have felt the wind of my strike. I felt like a child fighting a trained warrior.
Darian, on the other hand, had been like the wind, stepping in front of me and fighting with a fury I’d never imagined. His House of Steel powers impressed me more than anything. They give him the ability to transform his body into whatever he wanted. At one point he became three times the size of a normal person. He grew wings, a tail, and even a third arm at different times.
Somehow, he’s learned to use his ability to glow to blind and distract mid-fight. For a man I’d thought of as the court jester rather than a hardened warrior, he put up a real fight.
Elara was another surprise. The Goddess of Justice had never seemed interested in attacking Sylvantia, so I haven’t heard as much about the Wind Riders. Now, I understand they’re a veritable force on the battlefield, and Elara didn’t even have her mount.
When Lucine had looked like she was going to slap my head off, I’d thought that speed had been because she was a champion. Itwasn’t. Elara was nearly as fast, and watching her fight Rurik and Erik beside Darian was like watching a bear and a cat. Elara’s strikes were like lightning. Darian’s—at least the ones he landed—were like getting hit by boulders.
And yet, Rurik and Erik held their own, using their powers of electricity to augment their own combat. They’d pull back, looking to be on the defensive, and when Darian or Elara pressed, they’d have to dodge a stray lightning bolt.
“So, what’d you think?” Darian asks as he pours himself a cup of water. “Do you think you’re going to survive this?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “There’s no way. I’m dead.”
“You did better than I think anyone expected. You weren’t even using any of yourluck, were you?”
I shake my head.
“You probably want to use it before we train tomorrow. It’s important that the rest of the team sees that you aren’t just a fragile human we have to protect.”
I sigh. “Then I need you to tell Ainslee or Rhion that I need to talk to my father again, and to let him know that I’m going to be using myluckconstantly.”
He nods and is about to leave me alone at the table to go back to the rest of the team, but I stop him. “I need to… take a walk,” I say. “Will you walk with me for a moment?”
He arches an eyebrow, but he shrugs. We walk silently out of the room, and when we’re far enough away from the door that no one can hear me, I say, “Azric said that I need to meet with him every evening. He said that it was a command.”
Darian grits his teeth and doesn’t say anything immediately. “Ainslee’s going to be pissed.” He pauses and shakes his head. “Where are you supposed to meet him? I’ll go with you.”
“He told me I can’t bring anyone else, that what he’s going to talk to me about is for my ears only.” I can see Darian getting angrier by the second. “He said he’s going to train me personally.”
“He also used the touch of death on you. How am I supposed to knowingly let you go somewhere with a man who almost killed you just yesterday?”
I give him a broken smile. “Because hedidn’tkill me? Darian, I don’t know what to say, but you and I both know that pissing Azric off is the wrong decision. Maybe you could talk to him. He’s different when he’s away from the onlookers.”
He nods, but he doesn’t look happy. “He’s still the Azric I watched grow up. I still see it sometimes. Rarely, but occasionally, I see the light in his eyes when he’s talking about Inni or Sidon. That’s really the only conversation that brings him back to us. The rest of the time, he’s the Prince of Bones. He’s Lysara’s champion, not the sweet little boy that I watched ride a dragon when he was only five. I miss that little boy.”
He shakes his head slowly, obviously frustrated by the situation. “Fine. Please ask him to agree to an audience with just me. Ainslee is another champion, and Rhion is her husband, so they’re different. With me, he can be a little more himself. Maybe we can talk, and I can glean some sort of understanding as to what he’s planning. I still don’t feel safe with you around him.”
“Neither do I, but to be completely honest, the thought of disobeying his command terrifies me. He knows everything I do. He’s probably watching our conversation right now.”
“Probably. Alright, when should I expect you back?”
“I wish I knew.”
Moments pass as Darian thinks. “I’ll just wander the grounds for a few hours. I can take care of myself, and if the others think you’re walking with me, they won’t worry about you getting picked off alone. Ask Azric to bring you to me when you’re done.”
I nod to him, and as soon as I take a step away from Darian, I feel myself pulled into the darkness of the Void. This time, I’m not pulled back into the normal world, though. “Good evening,” Azric’s voice says from the nothingness around me. “I see you’ve found your cloak. So, it’s just as I thought.”
Chapter 24
The House of Flames was created for destruction. We were meant to protect Nyth from any who would try to harm it. But more than that, our very being was meant to spark the fire within every person. That is why those Flames required joy rather than anger.
~King Cole Cyrus, The Future of Magic and Dragons
Fiona
