Page 71 of Her Ivory Flame

She closed her eyes and let her hands dig into the ground, the dirt engulfing her hands.

“Af Óðins nafni, kalla ek á móður til að nærða logann ljóssins og vernda saklausa heimsins.(By Odin's name, I call upon mother to nurture the flame of light and protect the innocents of the world)” She chanted to herself.

She felt a small pulse vibrate against her palms, but not enough to chip the wall of her magic.

She took a deep breath, blocking out all sounds around her and delved deep into herself. She could see the wall she had built, a white glow could be seen through its cracks with small amounts of magic trickling out.

“Af Óðins nafni, kalla ek á móður til að nærða logann ljóssins og vernda saklausa heimsins(By Odin's name, I call upon mother to nurture the flame of light and protect the innocents of the world),” she said louder, her chest rumbling.

This was a common routine she did at home before the war and was severely out of practice. She needed to connect with the earth again, but something was blocking her from fully giving herself to it.

Maybe it was the betrayal of her people, or the betrayal of her own heart and the distrust she felt in everyone. The Ivory Flame fed off of nature, love and life.

Deep down, she felt so unworthy of it, of love, and maybe that was the problem. Maybe the flame didn’t think she was deservingof her power anymore or maybe she just didn’t have the inner strength to fight for it.

The snap of a stick pulled her from her thoughts and she pulled a dagger from her thigh quickly. She turned and threw it, the blade landing in a tree right next to Raine’s head.

She gasped in horror and saw Raine’s eyes widen towards her then at the blade.

“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Raine’s voice was shaking.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, her own body trembling. “It was a reflex.”

“It’s ok.” Raine spoke. “Kaden was looking for you, it’s getting dark and wants us all at camp.”

She just nodded, her hands still shaking as she walked towards the dagger in the tree. Any energy she felt from her attempt to connect to the earth was gone and her heart was racing faster than ever.

Both ladies walked back to camp in silence and when they got to camp, Kaden was barreling towards her.

“You can not go wandering off!” he growled.

“I didn’t go far.” she snapped back.

“My job is to protect you, and I can’t do that if you are wandering in the woods.”

“Don’t worry, I’m well aware how much you care about your job. Seems to be the only thing you care about right now.” She snapped again, her eyes glaring at him.

She saw a flash of confusion in his eyes but she didn’t stick around to see if they changed, her shoulder slamming into him as she walked around him towards the fire.

“There she is.” Finnley said in a friendly tone. “You had us all worried, especially Mr. Tight-ass over there.”

She saw him gesture towards Kaden but she didn’t bother looking in that direction. She just gave a faint smile and sat on the nearest empty log that circled the fire.

“How was your nature walk?” Boone asked casually.

“I almost took Raine’s head off, but that was about it.” she muttered.

“Why did you go out there?” Finnley asked.

“I was trying to get some of my power back.”

“In the woods?” Boone’s eyebrow raised.

“Yeah,” She sighed. “My powers feed off nature, but it seems I'm unworthy of it right now.”

Raine sat beside her and shook her head at her.

“You are not unworthy, my lady, you just need to find yourself again.” Her soft tone was a welcomed change and it helped her calm as she stared at the fire..