“No!” Atlas screams, recognizing the creature from the stories we once whispered between us.
Thew?ngesktentacles crash down, sweeping aside Atlas’s forces. It moves with impossible grace for something massive, targeting the flame-wolves that are within reach.
Fire dances around me as the ones I love have turned on each other, with hate fueling their hearts. I hold my hands out, fighting back the flames with the water within me, the magic pulsing through my veins.
Atlas did this because of his jealousy. He made the deal that sealed our fates – a fate I never wanted for any of them. Death was a dream that I never had, and yet it will forever be a nightmare they can’t escape.
Atlas stands there sneering before shouting an order to his men. His creatures of darkness slink between the shadows and flames as they bring something out. I can’t tell what it is through the maddening chaos.
Men and women stand behind me as we fight for everything we believe in, a fight we have never prepared for. Their powersweren’t meant for war, but as gifts, and yet, they fight beside me anyway. The stench of smoke, rot, and death lingers in the air.
Mud sucks at my boots with each step, threatening to hold me in place. Blood darkens the earth in expanding pools, some still warm and steaming in the rain. My people fight with desperate valor against overwhelming odds. To my left, a woman with water swirling around her hands pushes back three flame-wolves, her face contorted with effort. To my right, an earth [wielder] creates a wall of stone that crumbles almost immediately under the assault of Atlas's guard.
"We're losing ground," Selene shouts beside me, her sword dripping red as she dispatches a kukhe that ventured too close.
Through the sheets of rain, I spot movement at the center of Atlas's forces.
“Looking for this?” Atlas calls across the battlefield to me.
Shielding my eyes from the heat of the flames with my hands, I look up, noticing what the creatures brought out. My knees crumble and the rocks beneath dig into my skin.
“Thesix.” I whisper.
fourteen
Iwatch on bated breath as two guards surrounding Thesix force him to his knees in the mud. Even from this distance, I can see the network of bruises mottling his face, the dried blood at the corner of his mouth. His hands are bound behind his back, probably with obsidian to prevent his magic.
The pain of the sharp rocks digging into my skin through the leathers is barely registering. A keening sound escapes my throat, sounding more like a wounded animal than human.
“Drahenå!” Selene grabs my shoulder, trying to pull me up. “You can’t stop now!”
But I can’t tear my eyes away from Thesix. Atlas grabs a fistful of his hair, yanking his head back to expose his throat. Thesix’seyes find mine across the battlefield – those beautiful light blue eyes now dulled with pain but alive … defiant even now.
“Surrender now, and perhaps I’ll let him live, Drahenå!” Atlas shouts, before he gestures towards his men. They grab Thesix as he thrashes against them, tying him to a pole in the center of a platform.
The silver ripple that connects between us pulses like a frantic heartbeat, shining for only our eyes to see. I try to reach into it, for something–anything that can prevent what I know will happen regardless of what I do here or when I try to do it.
“Don’t.” Thesix mouths, his cracked lips barely moving. And for that reason alone … I love him. He would sacrifice himself for me even now.
Atlas notices our silent exchange and laughs, the sound cutting through the battlefield noise like a blade. “How touching! Your twin drop still tries to protect you.” His fingers ignite with a flame as he inches toward Thesix. “You have until the count of ten, Drahenå. Surrender or watch him die.”
The battlefield seems to still around me, the sounds of combat fade, the sounds of the war becoming nothing more than background noise as I lean down. My hands dig into the mud, fingers curling around the wet stones and blood-soaked soil. “Please.” I cry into my powers.
“One!” Atlas begins, his voice gleeful.
“Drahenå,” Selene hisses urgently. “We can still fight. Don’t give him what he wants.”
“Two!”
“He’ll kill Thesix either way,” she continues, her voice threatening to break while trying to bring me back from the darkness I feel.
“Three!”
A shadow falls over me. I look up to see Kya standing there, her flame-red hair plastered to her scarred face by the rain. Her amber eyes meet mine with fierce resolve.
“Four!”
“I’m here, Drahenå!” Kya says, extending her hand to me. Tiny flames dance between her fingers.
