Page 166

Tears of anger stung Mira’s eyes, and she balled her hands into fists. She should have known. Synth was too powerful. Its possibilities endless.

“I am so impressed you found a way to survive the extraction. Casters will gain equality thanks to you.”

Mira was sick with fury. “Synth doesn’t bring equality. All it brings is death. It’s not something you can control.”

“I don’t intend to use it, Miss Winters. But as long as Wielders know we have Synth, they won’t ever try to take over the council again. We can prevent another war. I thank you for your service.”

Tinley turned, giving the go-ahead for the defenders to transport Rakkley away.

Mira was so wrapped up in her anger, she almost didn’t notice Aidric standing just a few feet from her. Despite having depleted much of his magic, he had that stance he always held before he cast a large spell. Shoulders back. Feet planted firmly. His right hand swirled methodically and then she heard a whistling sound slowly growing louder. Something sharp cut through the clouds. It glistened in the moonlight. A massive dragon made entirely of ice descended upon them, and she could feel Aidric’s magic cut through the air. It burned with coldness, blazed with darkness.

The scales on the dragon’s chest shimmered in different blues and grays that reminded her of Aidric’s eyes.

The defenders screamed and frantically cast spells against Aidric, but they bounced off thanks to Rylan’s potion. Tinley ran to the magic gates, but it was too late. The dragon crashed down, blocking the gates and wrapping its sharp wings around them.

Aidric stood still aside from his hand, which continued to move elegantly through the air. When he brought both of his hands together, his arms shook. No wonder, given the amount of power and concentration it required to wield ice magic. When he opened his arms wide again, the dragon exploded into shards of ice. Mira covered her ears as the sound of a million high-pitched cracks and pops boomed across the area. The shards of ice sliced through the defenders and Tinley. They all died in an instant.

The dragon tattoo on his arm made sense now. He always seemed to be made of ice, so it was only logical that he controlled ice magic so freely.

There was only one person Aidric hadn’t killed with the dragon. Surrounded by a puddle of melted ice and blood stood Rakkley, in shackles and magic suppressions.

Aidric gave her a nod as if to say, This is your kill.

Rakkley laughed out loud. Mira gathered her powers, but it was difficult to temper her wrath and vengeance. They wanted to deliver more than death. They wanted to inflict suffering. But Rakkley had brought enough of that into the world. Mira focused on her control signifier and remembered her first training lesson with Aidric. She channeled a simple spell, and dark mist zapped through the air and cut off Rakkley’s head. The laughter stopped. It finally stopped. His body collapsed. Blood mixed with melted ice, and she waited. Waited until red turned black. Synth spilled out of his veins like tar. Exposed to the elements and without a magic host, the potion bubbled up and began to sizzle. Mira couldn’t take her eyes off the dark liquid as it fought to stay alive but corroded away. Drop by drop. Until the last one evaporated. The final dose of Synth was finally destroyed.

When she turned around, Aidric smiled at her. Then he collapsed to his knees. Mira ran over and steadied him, nestling herself against his chest. He felt so cold. He had overspent his powers, and that was before he had unleashed massive amounts of ice magic. Now, in the absence of anger and adrenaline, exhaustion washed over him. She felt it, too. The drain it all had on her powers.

Blood streamed from his left nostril, and black veins were increasingly visible on his face.

For a moment, she allowed herself to take it all in. The color of Aidric’s eyes. The way his silver hair shimmered in the moonlight. Dark Magic still ebbed from him in waves.

His eyes scanned her equally, taking inventory of every hair, every bruise or scrape.

“I knew you could do it,” he said with a soft smile.

She wanted to tell him how scared she had been of using her Dark Magic, but she noticed dark veins spreading in the whites of his eyes. Taking his right hand, she checked his Shadowflame, which faded in and out.

“Aidric, we need—”

But he had closed his eyes and his head fell back. She connected with her White Magic, feeling for the depletion of his powers. It was a wild storm. She stabilized it as much as possible, but Dark Magic poisoning wasn’t her specialty.

“We need to get him to the infirmary,” she yelled to her friends.

She required potions and supplies. Mostly she needed Obryn, who knew Aidric better than anyone.

She shook Aidric by his shoulders, and his eyes snapped back open. Even his irises had begun to darken. Black encroached on the silver blue. He didn’t have long.

“Stay with me,” she said.

Evren and Rylan pulled him up. He could barely stand, let alone walk. They each draped one of Aidric’s arms around their shoulders and guided him toward the gate.

Mira followed closely behind, keeping her eyes on Aidric’s weakened Shadowflame. She tried to calculate how much time he had left. How long it would take them to get back. But the thick haze of panic in her mind made it hard to think.

Ella and Oliver caught up with her.

“He is going to be okay,” Ella said. “Obryn will know what to do.”

Mira clung to those words. Repeated them in her mind over and over again. He is going to be okay. Because he had to be. But she couldn’t ignore Oliver’s somber stare. He remained silent as if he would rather hold his tongue than give reassurance when there was none.