I could compel all of our opponents, but if they deflected my magic with their mental shields, I would just be wasting time.
My vision studied the clear blue sky.Think, Maeve. Think.
The sun shone so damn brightly that my eyes stung, forcing a tight squint.
The sun.
The sun was a star, so maybe…Just maybe.
My head fell down at the perfect moment. “Sawyer! Behind you!” I screamed.
A helmeted Draemornian held a dagger level with the bump in Sawyer’s throat. He pulled my friend back with his free arm, securing him against his armored chest.
My heart rate beelined towards tachycardic, my pulse threatening to burst the veins in my neck.
Kade charged to regain control of his lost target. The sole of his boot collided with the man's chest, forcing him back to the ground. Kade repositioned his blade to where it had been prior to the wind storm interruption. “How many of you are there? Why are you out in the woods like this? What are you looking for?”
“Hell, Lyrise. Are you gonna interrogate the asshole or kill him?” Sawyer shouted, aimlessly grappling for the dagger tied at his hip.
The storm wielder stepped forward. “Give us the girl, and you can all go back to where you came from,” he snarled, his voice rough and nasally.
“Huh. I didn’t know Draemornians could have a sense of humor,” Sawyer spat back.
The blade against his carotid inched closer to impending death.
Sawyer really needed to learn when to shut up.
And where the hell were Seb and Jensen?
I foresaw this ending poorly if I didn't do something drastic. The task was incredibly gruesome, but I forced calmness into my vessel. When as relaxed as possible in such a situation, Iwelcomed sunlight into my bloodstream, praying my intuition did not fail me.
Scintillant, radiant light erupted from my palms. My markings sparkled, ignited with the extent of raw magic. I angled a palm at the two Draemornians standing behind Kade. Their screams were muffled by the sound of cosmic flame as their bodies burned to ash.
Success. Thank fuck.
Still trembling from the organic force flowing through me, I methodically attempted to redirect the starlight. With a hefty boom, the power claimed the best of me, and just like that, I had no control over it—I couldn’t turn it off.
Unrelenting sunlight streamed out of me, so dense and steady that it pulled me off of my mare. I landed on my back with a sharp jolt of pain to my spine. The starlight hooked a tree behind me in the process, the trunk splintering before splitting entirely.
Releasing whatever hold was left of my power, I rolled sideways just before the tree came crashing down, branches cracking and shooting up into the dusty air.
Kade, too, jumped out of the way just in time, though a severed branch fell on the Draemornian he had held his blade to, the man falling an indirect victim to my power. The one holding Sawyer dropped his blade and took off into the trees.
“Don’t let him get away!” Kade’s order thundered through the forest.
Sawyer had no intention of letting that happen. He darted after the Draemornian and stabbed his sword into the space between the buckles of his armor. The man dropped to his knees, gasping for air as Sawyer twisted the blade in his side, then ripped it upwards to shred his heart.
“Guess word travels fast,” Sawyer huffed, tousling his hair with a bloody hand.
“What the fuck happened?” Sebastian shouted as he and Jensen reappeared to the mess we’d created. Well, the messI’dcreated, mostly.
“We just killed two Draemornians further back in the forest. Guessing you all had a similar encounter?” Jensen gasped as he slowed his pace to a walk. He approached his horse, unstrapping a saddlebag and taking out his canteen.
“Your assumption would be accurate." Sawyer snickered, wiping his bloodied sword on the forest floor.
“They saw Maeve,” Kade stated.
Sebastian stepped towards him. “Then please tell me they are all dead.”
