I needed something with life. Something with water.
Diana galloped into the dirt on the Bloodstone side of the bridge.
“Stop!” I shouted. Annalisa pulled on the reins. “I have to take out the bridge!”
As soon as Diana was still, I slid off the horse and clumsily landed in the grass. My heart pounded as I scanned the moonlit bridge for any weakness, or maybe a tree I could enchant to fall and block the cavalry’s path.
But…what if trees had already fallen in their path?
Riyan had once told me he had used tree trunks to support the bridge as part of his punishment for snapping Grigory’s leg. My eyes went straight for the first two wooden pillars near the Hyton side of the river.
I threw out my magic. The tree trunks sparkled with tears and so did the river beneath them.
My Nordingaard crystal lit up as my feet tried to keep steady on the steep incline of the riverbank. I tried to focus onsparkling tears in the river, but the water was moving too fast. The tears passed by me before I could command them.
I had to get into the river.
I looked down at the rushing water. It was no magical healing spring nor a pool with defined limits. If I lost control over my magic, I was going to drown.
But if I let the cavalry cross the bridge, Riyan would be stuck in the place West of the Moon and East of the Sun forever.
I swallowed my fear and lowered my foot in the river. The cold water soaked my shoe and my stocking, the magic in the water kissing my skin like gentle embers.
Annalisa and Brietta gripped the back of my dress as I entered the river. I was up to my waist in the water, but magic was all around me.
As soon as the first horse came down the hill toward the bridge, I plunged my hands into the water, connecting with the last dreg of my power.
“Burn!”
The surface of the water was ablaze. I shielded my eyes from the blinding light and heat flashed across my cheeks.
A scream tore out of my throat as Brietta and Annalisa yanked me out of the water and onto the grassy riverbank.
Annalisa hit me in the stomach and I huffed out a breath. She screamed and cursed as she hit me and rolled me in the dirt.
Smoke singed my nose.
“She is good!” Brietta cried. “The fire is out.”
I coughed up dirt and grass, but then a loud rumbling sound made me snap my head toward the river. The stone bridge was crumbling into the flaming river—my fire had eaten the wooden supports.
The cavalry’s horses reared up and whinnied at the flames that danced on the surface of the water.
I let out a breath, the air from my lips cooling my smoldering body, and looked down—my skirt was soaked and my waist was singed.
The cavalrymen shouted on the other side of the river and I looked up. Pain filled my body, and not from the kiss of flames against my skin.
But I could not look south and grieve what I had left behind. My heart’s desire was north, where Riyan would soon walk the earth again.
Annalisa’s curls bounced as her head snapped toward Hyton. “I have to go back.” She raced toward the river as the flames were dying down. “I left Magnus! I have to go back for Magnus!”
Brietta shot me a look. We both knew she was not worried about the damn cat.
I picked up my sopping skirt and sprinted toward her before she could take a swim. She sat down at the riverbank and started to take off her shoes.
“Anna!” I shouted. “Donotgo back to Grigory after what he did!”
She shot me a glare over her shoulder. “Your curse cannot stop true love.”
